Foreigners emerge as the new heavyweights in China’s commercial property market

Foreign investors in China’s commercial property market are on a buying spree as high borrowing costs restrain domestic investors. The volume of commercial real estate acquisitions in China by foreign buyers jumped 62 percent last year to 78 billion yuan, or $9.1 billion, according to brokerage firm CBRE. That was the largest amount since CBRE began tracking foreign investment in Chinese commercial real estate in 2005. China has been trying to deleverage its economy, which has boosted the cost of borrowing and restrained domestic demand for commercial properties, according to Sam Xie, CBRE’s head of research in China. As a result, foreign investors in commercial properties “have an edge in financing,” Xie told media’ and the deleveraging drive in China means many domestic companies are more likely to sell than buy.