Chinese property developers turn to TikTok, virtual consultants and discounts to realise Wuhan’s promise
- Mainland Chinese developers must repay 583 billion yuan in debt by June
- Wuhan a ‘must-have’ to gain a presence in central China, E-House China Research and Development Institute says
China’s biggest property developers are hurting from one catastrophe or another. First, it was a slowdown in the country’s economy, and now, it is the Covid-19 pandemic.
Modern Land (China), however, is hoping to “sing” its way through the crunch. The Beijing-based builder is live-streaming its sales pitches into the living rooms of prospective buyers, some in cities under lockdown in the central Hubei province, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.
“Let me know what song you like and I will sing it for you,” sales agent Wang Yufei says, after presenting a project on video-sharing platform TikTok. “The three-layer filter in the central ventilation system can effectively screen viruses, dirt and bacteria in the air. If you are interested in our homes, or have any questions, just add me on WeChat.”
Wang’s “talent show” is one of the plan B measures being adopted by developers anxious for the province and its capital, Wuhan, to fulfil their potential. Others have gone online with virtual consultants, while behemoth China Evergrande is lowering its prices for all projects in the biggest discounts ever seen.
“It is impossible to say that our business is not being impacted,” said Cristiano Cui, Modern Land’s managing director. “Construction and sales across the country have been suspended for about 25 to 30 days. In Hubei, the fastest we could possibly resume is at the end of the second quarter.”