Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    EXPLOSIVE growth in the number of newly established firms in the Qianhai economic zone has led to a steep drop in vacancy rates and a sharp rise in rent in Shenzhen’s office market while rent for other commercial properties, including shops and warehouses, has also seen an increase.

    Preferential policies offered by Qianhai have stirred up Shenzhen’s financial sector. More than 20,000 firms, 390 percent more than a year ago, had registered in Qianhai by the end of 2014, with roughly 60 percent of them being financial services companies.

    As Qianhai remains under construction, these newly established firms have located themselves in new top-grade offices in the city’s central business district (CBD), resulting in a 7.9-percentage-point drop in the vacancy rate and a 17.9 percent rise in rent for top-grade offices, according to a report released Thursday by Jones Lang LaSalle’s Shenzhen division.

    The increases in rent for Shenzhen’s grade-A offices have been the biggest among Chinese cities for two consecutive years, and the average rent for top-grade offices in Futian District rose 20 percent to 244 yuan (US$39) per square meter per month last year from a year ago, the biggest increase among the city’s districts.

    Last year’s supply of 153,000 square meters of grade-A offices was only about one-third of that a year ago, which also contributed to the drop in vacancy rate, the commercial property adviser said.

    With an expected supply of 1.07 million square meters of top-grade offices this year, the vacancy rate of top-grade offices will rise 9 to 11 percent at the end of this year, but the rent will still see a double-digit growth this year thanks to the strong rise in rent for top-grade offices in Futian.

    Meanwhile, the vacancy rate for premium shops in Shenzhen dropped by 3.9 percent last year thanks to the expansion of some leading brands, especially food and drink brands, while the rent for warehouses in both free trade zones and other areas in the city grew by up to 12 percent last year, the report said.