Understanding China’s Real Estate Markets

China’s economy has been transforming rapidly over the last 25 years. As a result, Chinese conurbations have changed significantly, with cities expanding both vertically and horizontally in order to offer more space for residents, office and industrial workers, and for commercial purposes. This has provided vast opportunities for investors, real estate developers and service companies, but also presents huge challenges – as traditional city spaces have been reconfigured, environmental risks and the volatility of real estate markets have increased. However, the opportunities appear to outweigh the risks, and engagement with China is becoming strategically important for many. Exploring how international real estate professionals can understand China’s variegated real estate market, players and dynamics, and how they can avoid the risks, this book offers a concise and thoughtful introduction to all relevant areas of real estate, including economic, legal, tax, planning and financing issues.

Bing Wang is an Associate Professor of Real Estate and the Built Environment at Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) and Area Head for Master of Design Real Estate and the Built Environment. She is Faculty Co-Chair for the Real Estate Management program, a joint program between the GSD and Harvard Business School, and the Advanced Real Estate Development program. Prof. Wang holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Tsinghua University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. She worked at Lehman Brothers before founding her own real estate investment management firm. She acts as an advisor for multinational companies in the US, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. Her publications include the books The Architectural Profession of Modern China (2011), Prestige Retail Design and Development (2014), and Global Leadership in Real Estate and Design (2015). She is on the Steering Committee of Harvard China Fund, on the board of the Chinese Society of Urban Studies, and is an elected Board Director of the American Real Estate Society (ARES). 

Tobias Just is the Managing and Academic Director at the IREBS Immobilienakademie and a Professor of Real Estate at the University of Regensburg. Prof. Just studied Economics in Hamburg and Uppsala (Sweden). His doctoral dissertation was awarded the university science prize in 2001. He subsequently worked for more than ten years at Deutsche Bank Research. Prof. Just has published more than 160 papers in professional and academic journals and books and eight books on various real estate and economics topics. He is President of the German Society of Property Researchers (gif), and an editor for ZIÖ – the German Journal of Real Estate Research. In 2017, Prof. Just became a Fellow of the RICS. From 2012 to 2018 he was a member of the Executive Management Board of the German section of the Urban Land Institute.