Shanghai and Beijing have moved into the top 50 of the world's most expensive cities in which to rent retail space.
It is their first appearance on the list, after shop rents climbed at least 20 per cent in the past 12 months, according to a global survey by property consultant Colliers International.
Street-front rents in Shanghai's Nanjing Road West, the most popular shopping destination in the city, have risen 20 per cent to US$245 per square foot per year, raising Shanghai to 37th in the world.
Beijing, meanwhile, claimed the 50th spot after rents at the China World Trade Centre, an upmarket shopping centre in the core business district, went up 25.5 per cent to US$196 per square foot.
Retail rents at Russell Street in Causeway Bay may have fallen 3.8 per cent to about US$1,192 per square foot in the past 12 months, but Hong Kong is still Asia's most expensive city in which to open a shop and ranks third in the world, behind New York and Paris.
New York's Fifth Avenue remains the most expensive shopping district in the world, with an average rent of US$1,400 per square foot.
Ross Moore, an executive vice-president of the market and economic research department at Colliers in the United States, said retail rents in many cities had come down by double digits in the global recession, with financial centres being the worst affected.