Shopping Centers in China Starting to Open

One of the largest companies in the Asian real estate market, CapitaLand Retail opens all its shopping centers in China.

Representatives of the company announced that all shopping centers in mainland China, previously closed due to coronavirus, are opening their doors to visitors. Since the end of January 2020, all the country’s shopping centers have been closed, but now the authorities believe that the outbreak of infection has fallen and began to issue permits for the opening of shopping facilities. 

Since early April, shopping malls have begun their work, and there has already been an increase in the flow of visitors, as well as reported that about 80% of tenants have resumed their activities.

The company operates shopping centers in nine major Chinese cities. Among the malls owned by CapitaLand Retail, there are also four shopping centers in Wuhan, a capital that is considered the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. These malls have also been reopened since April 2. 

CapitaLand representatives are optimistic, but several factors can play against the rapid recovery of sales through malls. These include the population’s decreased purchasing power during quarantine, as well as the transition of many consumers to online shopping and their unwillingness to return to retail outlets for fear of a new wave of infections. 

Experts estimate that about 60% of Chinese shopping malls recorded a 30% drop in sales in the first quarter. In this case, total retail sales for the first two months of the year fell by 20.5% compared to the same period last year.