ULI China Mainland held CEO Forum in Shanghai on the afternoon of September 23, 2022. Nearly 50 leaders from well-known developers and investment institutions from China and abroad were attracted to this closed-door meeting. The CEO forum focused on two main themes, namely 1) how real estate developers and investors can navigate the current challenging market environment, and 2) how the commercial real estate industry will evolve.

Mr. Benjamin Chow, Head of Real Estate Research for Asia, MSCI, gave a keynote speech: Weathering the Storm: Global and China Capital Markets. In the context of slowing global economic growth, the growth rate of total real estate investment around the world has also started to slow down. Mr. Chow believes that 2023 will see the Asia-Pacific region recover as the center of global economic growth. The average office prices in most of the top tier cities across the world will peak, but investors can focus on key cities such as Shanghai and Beijing where prices are at a low point.

Stuart Mercier, Managing Partner, Head of Asia (Real Estate), Brookfield Asset Management, moderated the roundtable discussion: Navigating Through the Current Challenge. The discussion was joined by Wilson Chen, CEO China and Senior Managing Director, Tishman Speyer, Vega Li, Senior Vice President, GLP Capital, Ken Zheng, General Manager, Shanghai, Huafa Commercial, and Barry Lai, COO, Hong Kong Jiangong Real Estate Group. Despite the stagnant macroeconomic picture, the guests think that falling interest rates in China will ease the cost of borrowing for developers. ESG and new energy will be the fields that most developers will continue to focus on, and most guests expressed their preference for life science properties.

Charles Chan, Senior Executive Director of Capitaland Investment (China), moderated the next roundtable discussion on the future of commercial property sector. Hailun Cao, Vice President, Shanghai Bailian Group Co. Ltd., Vera Wu, Deputy Director, Mainland Business Operation, Hang Lung Properties, and Henry Cheng, CEO & Executive Director, Chongbang Group, participated in the discussion. In the face of the operational challenges under the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, the guests think that commercial operators have to “stop the bleeding” and manage to “create blood” to help merchants reduce losses while activating the consumer market through new contents, new products and new capabilities. In addition, the digital linkage and accurate marketing of online and offline commerce is also crucial.

After the exciting and dynamic panel discussions, speakers and guests continued their in-depth communication and brought the CEO Forum to a successful conclusion.