Market Trends of China Co-working Office Spaces Industry
Increasing Demand for Co-Working Spaces to Support Growth
The co-working office spaces have been significantly growing over the years. In 2021, Beijing and Guangzhou led the sector by offering many co-working spaces. Beijing remained a significant location in the country, with most businesses moving to co-working and shared offices. Beijing was followed by Wuhan, the second-largest co-working market in China with shared offices, attracting a wide range of tenants, including major corporates, government organizations, and start-ups.
Most freelancers, start-ups, and small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) adopt co-working spaces. These spaces provide top features and facilities such as fast internet services, 24/7 access to office space, meeting rooms, and furnished and unfurnished spaces. Serviced offices (creative and classic) contribute most of the share in the co-working office space sector.
Even though China's SME sector is growing moderately, the rising cost of business operations, including the high rental cost of commercial properties, is influencing many upcoming small businesses to look for cost-effective alternatives. This factor created new opportunities for co-working service providers to accommodate small business owners. As a result, China is witnessing a massive boom in the co-working culture, with many co-working spaces coming up across the country.
The Growing Millennial Population Boosting the market
Millennials (currently aged between 20 and 37) are changing how the world works and demanding new ways of working. The Chinese real estate sector is focusing on the changing work culture. The 400 million millennials in China constitute a big and expanding consumer generation with enormous economic influence. High-end brands are popular among millennials. They will account for 40% of luxury goods sales by 2024, according to a source, with 50% of that age group between the ages of 18 and 30. Here are some important insights on the Chinese consumer of 2022.
Co-working spaces are a new trend of working that emerged recently. Co-working spaces are shared environments where people doing different jobs can work together and separately within the same space. The spaces are often very urban and stylish and are far removed from some of the more severe 'cubicle farms' of recent times. They allow for freedom, flexibility, and various work environments.
More millennials are joining the workforce, and their presence requires a transformational shift in the workplace perspective. There are 14,000 functional co-working spaces globally. By the end of this year, around 1.7 million people (mostly millennials) will likely take advantage of the new working conditions offered by co-working spaces. According to industry sources, as of 2021, there were more than 350 millennials in China aged between 25 and 54, representing the new workforce with bold new ideas.
