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Hong Kong office market to be dominated by buyers from China

More record-breaking deals involving mainland buyers are expected in the coming months

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Agricultural Bank of China is one of the Big Four state banks in China to have its own tower building in Hong Kong. Photo: Edward Wong
Peggy Sito

Chinese state-owned banks and corporates will continue to be the dominant buyers in Hong Kong’s grade-A office market as they look to capture international capital and diversify their ownership structures to grow.

Property consultants expect to see more record deals from Chinese buyers in the coming months, warning that the aggressive sums they are paying may price others out of the market.

“Capital outflows brought about by the broadening of cross-border investment channels and expectations of further renminbi depreciation against the US greenback will continue to underpin demand from mainland financial institutions in the Hong Kong office market,” said Denis Ma, the head of research at JLL’s Hong Kong office.

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A number of larger China financial institutions are known to be actively looking for opportunities in the city’s office sector, Ma said.

[ICBC] studied the buying possibilities at The Center a few months ago
Source
The companies are in the spotlight again after Cheung Kong Property (Holdings) put its remaining 75 per cent ownership of The Center, a 73-storey building in Central, on the market at an asking price of HK$35 billion. State-owned enterprises, including banks and insurance companies, are said to be the potential bidders.
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