Golden Resources Mall

Golden Resources Mall, locally known as Jin Yuan, opened in Beijing’s Haidian District on 24 October 2004. With 557,000 square meters across six floors, it claimed the title of world’s largest shopping mall on opening day, holding that position until New South China Mall surpassed it in 2005. English-language coverage at the time labeled it the Great Mall of China.

The property forms part of the broader Century City mixed-use development between the Third and Fourth Ring Roads. New Yansha Group operates roughly half the leasable space and manages tenant coordination from launch. The mall houses more than 1,000 retail and dining units, 230 escalators, and an ice skating rink.

The opening year was difficult. Initial projections of 50,000 daily shoppers proved aspirational. The site sat in what was then a sparsely populated suburban corridor, and pricing skewed beyond the purchasing capacity of the local catchment. Foreign correspondents counted as few as 20 visitors per hour during the first months. Anchor brands kept their stores open as forward positioning rather than near-term revenue plays.

Two structural shifts changed the trajectory. Beijing’s middle class expanded substantially through the 2010s, and the city’s built-up area absorbed Haidian’s peripheral districts into the inner urban fabric. Beijing Subway Line 10 opened a Changchunqiao Station entrance in 2012, with Line 12 service following more recently.

For international retailers entering North China, Golden Resources offers a useful triangulation point against the more luxury-oriented Beijing flagships in Sanlitun and Wangfujing. The Jin Yuan trade area now skews to families and middle-income professionals from Haidian’s tech and education clusters, a profile that has shaped the tenant rotation toward fashion, electronics, and casual dining.