(Yicai Global) Feb. 17 -- New demand for office rentals in China this year is likely to be double that of last year and return to previous levels as the country’s economic activities recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a recent report.

Some five million square meters of commercial real estate in 18 major cities could be leased out in 2023, equivalent to the average area rented out over the past five years, according to a report released by US commercial property consultancy CBRE Group yesterday.

This would be double last year’s 2.3 million square meters, which was the lowest level since 2009 and a 68 percent dive from 2021, as repeated outbreaks of Covid-19 battered the service industry, the report said.

Office rents, though, may dip 0.7 percent this year from a year earlier due to more properties coming on the market, it said. This would be an improvement of 1.1 percentage point from last year’s drop.

Now that the latest wave of Covid-19 has passed and the country has relaxed its pandemic prevention measures, the retail outlet rental sector is likely to recover quickly, said Xie Chen, head of research at CBRE China.

Consumer spending in China picked up considerably during the week-long Spring Festival holiday last month, boosting the confidence of retailers on the mainland. Sixty percent of those surveyed in a separate CBRE poll conducted earlier this month said they expect revenue to rise this year and 71 percent said they plan to open more stores.

Editor: Dou Shicong