Hong Kong’s theDesk to open Shanghai project as China’s shared workspace providers shut up shop, scale back

  • Boss of shared office-space operator is confident theDesk will thrive in challenging mainland Chinese market
  • Dozens of co-working firms in China have gone bust while many spaces stand half-empty as economy stalls

theDesk’s shared office space at the Leighton Centre in Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP Handout

Mainland China’s shared office-space market has had a torrid time, with dozens of providers going bust last year and a vast number of co-working projects now standing half empty.

That has not stopped theDesk, an operator based in Hong Kong, from pushing ahead with plans to enter the fraught mainland market by opening a new project in Shanghai soon.

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