Economic overview

Retail sales decreased 13.1% year-on-year (YoY) to RMB939.01 billion in the first nine months of 2020, while general retail and F&B sales fell 10.8% YoY and 37.7% YoY to RMB882.16 billion and RMB56.85 billion, respectively. The citywide retail market was under enormous pressure in 1H/2020 due to COVID-19 and was still recovering from the fallout in Q3/2020. 

Supply and stock

Beijing’s retail market saw only one new project launched in the first three quarters of 2020, located in a non-prime submarket. Yanqing Wanda Plaza in Yanqing District launched with a retail GFA of 92,000 sq m, and the project is positioned as a comprehensive shopping mall rarely found in the outskirts of the city. As a result, the total shopping mall stock reached 10.16 million sq m. Meanwhile, total department store stock remained at 2.03 million sq m by the end of Q3/2020.