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ESSENTIALS:
Population: :
17 million
Area:
16,808 square kilometers, or about 6,500 square miles. It stretches
160 kilometers (about 99 miles) from east to west, and over 189
kilometers (117 miles) north to south.
GDP (2004): $51.79 billion
Adspend (2004): $1.88 billion
Adspend (2003): $1.43 billion
Year-on-year increase: 31.4%
Adspend as a percentage of GDP (2004):
3.6%
No. of TV households: 2,422,000
Avg. min. viewed per day of all channels
(aged 4+): 182.2
Basic cable subscription cost (per
month): $2.17
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Monuments to a
new China
Although it will not be
finished for another year or so, the China Central Television headquarters,
designed by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren of the Dutch firm Office for
Metropolitan Architecture, is a jaw-dropping sight.
The skyscraper consists of two 51-story towers,
connected by a pair of cantilevered arms. Its dark-glass exterior is wrapped
in steel webbing that thickens where the structure requires bracing and
melts away where it needs less.
The building is itself a daredevil. As an example
of design prowess in the way it turns assumptions about skyscrapers inside
out, and as a sublime presence on the smoggy Beijing skyline - the tower is
a tour de force.
But what does its appeal say about the new
Beijing, this deeply historical capital city that has spent a decade
remaking itself in advance of the summer Olympics? There the issue is
murkier, fraught with questions about the relationship between design
freedom and political variety.
This was the surprise of my recent visit to
Beijing. On earlier trips, I had watched the dismaying destruction of the
city's system of courtyard houses, linked by narrow alleyways called hutongs.
That destruction continues to spread.
I had spoken with local designers about how the
decision to give prominent buildings to Western architects sparked
controversy and brought back to the surface deep-seated Chinese fears about
exploitation by foreigners. But I did not anticipate that so many of the new
architectural icons would share such an imposing, old- fashioned brand of
monumentality.
Like nearly all capital cities, Beijing is full of
somber and grandiose tributes to state glory and former leaders, many
grouped in and around Tiananmen Square. But its postwar housing and
commercial architecture were bland.
In the run-up to the Olympics, Western architects
and their Chinese clients have extended the serious scale once reserved for
government ministries and memorials to include, along with CCTV, stadiums
for the Games, a new airport terminal by Norman Foster and a domed national
theatre by France's Paul Andreu.
The Beijing I visited this time is a crossroads
where avant-garde design meets autocratic taste.
Beijing has reinvented itself before, most
recently following the 1949 Communist revolution, when Soviet advisers
helped Chinese leaders replan the city. But it has never been a center for
innovation or experienced the massive growth that it has in the last two
decades.
When Deng Xiaoping opened China to market reforms
nearly three decades ago, he made sure that economic experiments - and new
city-making - happened in places distant from the capital.
During the Cultural Revolution, more than 30
million Chinese were ordered to leave cities for the countryside to be
"rusticated." For much of the 1960s and '70s, very little was
built; architecture withered. Now Beijing's population is nearing 18 million
- up from about 11 million a decade ago - and China has more than 100 cities
with at least one million residents.
There are signs of progressive and eco-conscious
planning in Beijing but mostly, the landmarks express ambition carried out
at warp speed. The powerful strangeness of the city's new icons is
exaggerated by the way they are placed on huge pieces of land, creating an
urban-planning version of the condition cultural critic George WS Trow
called "the context of no context."
The national theater, known as the Egg, sits
behind an enormous circular moat. CCTV rises from 49 acres, more than three
times the size of the World Trade Center site in New York.
The drama of the setting complicates some of
Koolhaas' arguments defending his decision to design the headquarters for
CCTV, whose programming is pro-government. What the building demonstrates is
that in a society such as China's, if officials clear out a vast tabula rasa
in a prominent location and give an architect the freedom to produce
something truly innovative, that very freedom can become a mechanism for
promoting state strength.
In certain settings, making a prominent structure
radical or off- balance can be a means of undercutting cultural or
government authority.
Scale, site and experimental geometry come
together at CCTV to produce one of the most instantly impressive structures
I have ever seen. But it is not what you would call uplifting.
Consider the National Stadium, which has emerged
as the primary symbol of the Beijing Games. Designed by the Swiss firm
Herzog & de Meuron, it is known as the "bird's nest." The
nickname suggests a delicacy that is clear to see in computer renderings and
photographs, but entirely missing up close.
The stadium sits on a vast paved plaza, created
when a residential district was razed to make room for the main Olympic
facilities. It is flanked by a broad boulevard laid out by Albert Speer, the
son of Adolf Hitler's favorite architect, which further exaggerates its
scale and setting.
So does the exterior, with its woven columns.
Because of their sheer size - the stadium is roughly the height of a
25-story building - the columns operate both as ornament and as the
digital-age equivalent of the large pillars on a neoclassical bank or
government building.
The bird's nest is a virtuosic example of Herzog
& de Meuron's talent that also manages to retire tattered ideas about
stadium architecture. But above all, it is, very simply, a monument - to the
new China and to newness itself. - 2008
August LOS
ANGELES TIMES
China's capital is a city of extremes,
physically exhausting and intimidating for its sheer sprawl and harsh
climate, yet exhilarating and charming for its hidden cultural finds and
mind-boggling speed of change.
While not China's largest city, Beijing is definitely the
most influential metropolitan center in that fast-growing Asian market.
Since China joined the World Trade Organization, the capital has
attracted dozens of multinational marketers who value its close
proximity to influential Communist cadres. The opening of China's
telecom, finance and banking industries, as well as hype surrounding the
upcoming 2008 Olympic Games, are helping Beijing steal some of the
attention that used to be focused on Shanghai.
The success of Beijing's tech industry, namely the booming
number of Internet start-ups, has changed the mentality of Beijingers
and instigated a lot of cultural changes, like more films and rock bands
coming out of Beijing these days. This new breed of consumers is more
knowledge-based, adventurous and tech-savvy.
Beijing was already one of China's most sophisticated and affluent media
markets. All but two of the ten-most advertised brands on local TV are
now Western products, a reality reflected in the growing number of
locally-made campaigns that could run in New York or London. For
example, a new TV campaign for Li-Ning, China's leading sportswear
brand, was filmed in Africa to promote the Beijing-based brand's
international ambitions. But local agency execs warn that Beijingers
still are not impressed by flashy pitches, preferring instead
no-nonsense information-based advertising.
Beijing Takes on Shanghai
Shanghai is home to China's biggest stock exchange, its bond and money
markets, and the China headquarters of several foreign banks. But now the
coastal city long seen as this nation's answer to New York is facing
competition from an unlikely rival to the north: Beijing.
The rising profile of China's political capital in the
financial sector reflects, in part, the central role still played by the
state in banking, securities and other financial businesses. In the past
several years, following the development of an area in west Beijing known as
Financial Street, the city has attracted banks and bankers from New York,
Frankfurt and Paris that are putting their China headquarters there, drawn
largely by greater proximity to China's most-important decision makers.
On Financial Street, foreign bankers say they have easier
access to policy information because the area hosts all of China's financial
regulatory agencies and the main offices of China's four biggest domestic
banks. Increasingly, it is also home to many of their competitors from
overseas.
"In Beijing you can see the whole picture, while in
Shanghai [the perspectives] are very local," said a senior banker at a
U.S. investment house.
Several big names, including J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche
Bank AG, which have more of an investment-banking than a commercial-banking
presence in China, have chosen Beijing for their mainland China
headquarters. Skyscrapers just a few years old on Financial Street have been
filling up with teams from foreign banks, and the area -- although far, in
Beijing's heavy traffic, from the eastern part of the city that long hosted
most foreign business -- now boasts several of Beijing's swankiest hotels.
"Being close to the market, the customers and the
regulators is very important," said Jackson Cheung, chief executive for
China of French bank Société Genéralé SA. SocGen has decided to base its
locally incorporated subsidiary in Beijing when it opens, probably in the
fourth quarter of this year, although it will also keep operations in
Shanghai.
Beijing's emergence as a financial hub accelerated after Wang Qishan, an
official with long experience dealing with the financial sector known and a
reputation as a capable problem-solver, became mayor of Beijing in 2004. Mr.
Wang earlier this year was promoted to vice premier in charge of the
country's economic and financial issues.
The capital also is home to more than 100
central-government-owned enterprises, including the big state-owned
telecommunication operators and oil companies. Many of those companies that
haven't already done so are expected to offer shares publicly and pursue
mergers and acquisitions in the years to come. These expectations make
Beijing a lucrative market for investment bankers, says Huo Xuewen, head of
the Finance Bureau of the Beijing Municipal Government.
In early May, Beijing city leaders launched a set of guidelines to push
development further, saying a previous five-year plan drawn in 2005 was
"conservative." Beijing will expand Financial
Street to host emerging businesses in areas such as financial leasing,
futures broking, and investment trusts. As part of the plan, Beijing will
add development parks to house back-office services for foreign banks, Mr.
Huo said.
Beijing still lacks some policies to keep foreign companies
coming, such as tax preferential measures, says the foreign banker. And
Shanghai is by no means sitting still. Earlier this month at a forum in
Shanghai's financial district, officials said that developing Shanghai into
an international financial center remains a national strategy.
Li Chao, spokesman for the People's Bank of China, said
that while the central bank supports the efforts of other cities to boost
their financial status, it is always easier said than done to build a
so-called financial hub. The central bank is based in Beijing, but it has
made Shanghai its secondary headquarters, saying it can better safeguard the
country's financial stability with a big office close to the markets.
- 2008 May 28 WALL
ST.JOURNAL
Land in Beijing under strict control
Beijing has imposed strict control over land use this year, with supply of no more than 6,300 hectares,
compared with last year´s 6,500 hectares, according to a plan released by
the Beijing Municipal Bureau of State Land and Resources.
Land supply for new construction will be limited
to 3,500 hectares, including 1,600 hectares for housing projects. Two
hundred and twenty hectares must be used for building houses for low-income
families this year
Land supply in downtown Beijing is supposed to be
no more than 30 per cent of the total, while suburban areas will take the
other 70 per cent. The plan gives priority to land use for the Olympic Games
and urban infrastructure construction. - 2007
September 18 ASIA PULSE
Outlook's
bright for Beijing property
 
Beijing will be the mainlands best residential
market to invest in this year as property prices will continue to climb
steadily, largely driven by demand generated by this summers Olympic Games,
property consultants say.
According to Savills, selling prices of upscale apartments in Beijing are
expected to rise 10 to 20 percent in 2008, while rents jump 20 to 30
percent.
Savills (Beijing) deputy managing director Eric Chan Wing-fai said high-
end flats mostly service apartments and luxury homes can actually act as an
indicator reflecting the performance of the entire market.
High-end apartments only account for about 20 percent share in the
market, but they are exerting influence on prices in the mass market, Chan
said.
Beijings town planning and infrastructure have been improving because of
the Olympics. With an improved living environment, people from other parts
of the mainland or even foreign expatriates are lured to live in the city.
Beijings flat prices have been soaring since 2003. Savills data shows
high- end apartment prices in the city doubled from 2003 to 2007. Average
sale prices last year rose about 37.16 percent from 2006 to HK$28,636 per
square meter.
Even after the Olympics fever subsides in 2009, Beijing would continue to
reap spinoff benefits as international awareness of China will be raised
this year, attracting more people to live or invest in the countrys capital
that is currently home to more than 8.5 million urban dwellers, Chan said.
As well as the Olympics catalyst, property consultants noted that strong
domestic demand is another reason for the continued boost in flat prices.
Compared to other cities, Beijing is a more appealing place to live in as
the headquarters of the government and most companies are located here, said
Alan Ngok Fung-gong, residential department director for Northern China at
DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.
Furthermore, the city does not have its own dialects. People just need to
know Putonghua. Its easier for people to adapt to living in Beijing.
As well, Ngok said nearby cities such as Tianjin and Jinan do not enjoy
the luxury of rapid economic development unlike Beijing.
The strong residential market demand in the capital cannot be diversified
to cities nearby, leaving Beijing with strong and sustainable domestic
demand, Ngok said. However, transaction volume decreased in the fourth
quarter last year due to the government austerity measures along with rising
flat prices.
According to DTZ, 7,951 units changed hands in the Beijing housing market
in December, down 40 percent from a year ago.
Fewer units were sold as sales prices were lifted. Residential unit
prices in the capital increased about 37 percent to 13,600 yuan (HK$14,523)
per square meter, Ngok said, adding that seasonal factor was another reason.
Sales in November and December usually fall. The number of residential
units sold in November fell 37 percent, Ngok said.
Chan, however, is optimistic that the falling transaction volume will
end.
The transaction volume drop in the fourth quarter will only be short
term. Sales will pick up again as the government only wants to control
instead of push down property prices, he said.
Starting this year, Chan said property prices in the capital will achieve
moderate growth rather than escalating 30 to 40 percent each year.
The residential market in Beijing will continue its uptrend this year.
Property prices will rise in a stable manner.
- 2008 January 3 THE
STANDARD
Real estate biggest private cash lure
for Beijing
About 64.22 billion yuan (US$8 billion) of nongovernmental investment has been thrown into the real
estate market in Beijing in the first seven months of this year, accounting
for 77% of the city´s total nongovernmental investment of 83.4 billion yuan,
according to statistics released by Beijing Municipal Statistic Bureau (BMSB).
Nongovernmental investment refers to
investment of foreign enterprises and enterprises from Hong Kong, Macao and
Taiwan, and domestic investment from non-state-owned sectors. Statistics
show that nongovernmental investment also accounted for more than 80% of
79.76 billion yuan injected into Beijing´s real restate projects in the
Jan. - July period. It is learned that the growth of nongovernmental
investment in the first seven months reached 29.8% as compared with the 11%
growth in the same period of last year.
It is reported that the fast-growing nongovernmental investment is expected
to provide enough capital for Beijing´s real asset market even if no
investment comes from state-owned or state holding real estate development
companies.
Xiao Jincheng, an expert with the National Development and Reform
Commission, said that a considerable part of the so-called nongovernmental
investment is bank loans.
"It is the undersupply and hiking housing prices that lure more and
more private enterprises into the real estate market", said Xiao,
adding that "because real estate investment is largely regarded as a
good way for preserving the value".
- 2007 August 22
BLOG
2007: Hello! Tai Tai's
recent visit to Beijing illustrated a few important themes about China's
capital city. After an absence of a decade, our
recent trip in March 2007 illustrated that many of the historical sights
such as the Ming Tombs, Great Walls, and Temple of Heaven are still well
preserved and important artifacts in China's history. However,
three themes stand out:
- Beijing is one big construction zone in anticipation
for the summer Olympics in 2008 and it is obvious that China is not
lacking in design talent. They can match New York, London or
Hong Kong, although it may be Chinese style and there are still obvious
spelling mistakes like "Winterless Bussiness Centre" intending
to mean Summer Business Centre in Chinese.
- The city has cultural depth and world-class restaurants
including:
- Major traffic congestion - We sat over an hour to move
just a few blocks
We stayed at the prestigious Grand
Hills, which is home to the head of many multinational heads including
our wonderful host Allan Kwan who headed up Yahoo! for Northern Asia
including Greater China and most recently as Vice President Interntional who
moves on this month to become sole partner for Oak
Investment Partners as their sole venture partner in Asia. -
Hello! TAI TAI
Beijing has undergone a huge expansion of
residential, office and hotel properties in preparation for the 2008
Olympic Games and in anticipation of an influx of corporate
headquarters.
While most analysts and developers are
bullish on the long-term prospects of property prices, many say that
capacity is likely to outstrip demand in the next five years.
This is because most of the planned projects
must be finished, or be in the final stages, by 2006 as the government
has banned construction cranes in Beijing's town centre from 2007 to
avoid marring the skyline during the Olympics.
-
South
China Morning Post 11 Dec 2003
HOTELS Beijing
Hotel Companies Go for the Gold
S&P says select lodging
companies are attractive investments as China's hotel market gears up for
the Olympics
As with any event of such scale, attendees are
going to need hotel rooms. Lots of hotel rooms. Beijing is expected to
receive about 500,000 to 550,000 overseas visitors as it hosts the Summer
Games, according to chinadaily.com. And that raises a question for
investors: Are there attractive growth opportunities for hotel companies in
China? Standard & Poor's Equity Research says yes.
This $40 billion event will increase China's
expanding tourist traffic, and will likely improve its already hot market
for hotels. China ranks fourth on the list of top destinations, and some
believe it could surpass the U.S. to become the top destination over the
next 10 years. China's growing middle-class population is also spending more
on vacations within China.
Lots of Rooms in the Pipeline
Some major hotel companies stand to profit from
this potential growth, in 2008 and beyond, says S&P.
"Business and tourist travel will likely
benefit from China's growth, and it's not surprising that there are
significant growth opportunities available for hotel companies there. The
Olympics will likely contribute to this growth," says Tom Graves,
co-head of U.S. consumer discretionary equity research for S&P.
China has the largest development pipeline for
hotels in the world after the U.S. China's room count is 63% of all the
rooms in the Asian pipeline, according to Lodging Econometrics. The pipeline
for hotels to be built in Beijing is growing quickly. Shanghai also has a
large pipeline, aimed to help accommodate visitors to its World Expo in
2010.
Eyeing the InterContinental
Today in China there are about 5,000 hotels with
star ratings, holding about 701,700 available rooms. In comparison, the U.S.
has about 50,000 hotels. This suggests to S&P that the market in China
appears to have a lot of room for growth. How much? It's hard to say. By way
of comparison, the U.S. hotel industry has annual revenues of about $90
billion.
S&P believes one good investment opportunity
lies with InterContinental. "InterContinental is among the three largest hotel
companies in China," says S&P equity analyst William Mack. He
points out that the company has more than 55 hotels in China, most of which
are managed or franchised. InterContinental plans to have about 125 hotels
by 2008; many will likely be Holiday Inns.
"The company is expanding its China brand
presence—in terms of number of rooms—by about 20% a year," says
Mack, with about 30 new contract signings in 2006. "It usually takes at
least a year between contract signing to opening." Mack has a 4 STARS
(buy) ranking on InterContinental.
Other Good Buys
Other hotel companies with a growing presence in
China include Hilton Hotels, Marriott International, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Each of those stocks is ranked 3 STARS (hold) by S&P.
Other U.S industry players making strides in
China: Best Western, which will have around 25 hotels by the end of this
year, and 4 STARS-ranked Wyndham - by Pearl Wang BUSINESS
WEEK 27 March 2007
Beijing, which has lagged behind Shanghai, will catch up. With the
opening in 2007 of the Regent Hotel, which will have a small luxury retail
arcade, the Park Hyatt, with 12,000 square meters of retail space, and China
World Place with 150,000 square meters plus new developments near Wangfujing
Road, Beijing will have the locations to attract leading luxury brands -
INTERNATIONAL
HERALD TRIBUNE 2 Dec 2004
NEWS STORIES
Key
events that propel Beijing to the forefront for investment in China:
- China's entry into WTO;
- Beijing Olympics 2008
As the country's capital and centre of political
power, the skyline of this huge city is changing with a number
of landmarks.
OFFICE | MIXED USE
Demand for A-grade office buildings in
Beijing is forecasted to exceed 2.1 million sqm in 2007.
As the effective supply of A-grade office buildings is limited,
developers have asked for high rental prices for their
buildings. Meanwhile, rapid increasing demand has gradually
lowered the vacancy rate of buildings. However, greater supply
pressure will mount in the latter half of this year and in early
2008.
The supply of A-grade office buildings will exceed
1.6 million sqm in the latter half of 2007 and 955,000 sqm in the first half
of 2008. To be specific, the supply in CBD, the Financial Street and the 2nd
East Ring Commercial Circle will make up 52.6%, 17% and 16.5% of the total.
Demand for A-grade office building remained above
200,000 sqm in the second quarter of this year in Beijing, driven by the IT
and financial service industries. As the supply is limited, strong demand
has again pushed up the average rent for A-grade office building in Beijing
to 222 Yuan month in the second quarter, up 0.6%. Meanwhile, the sales price
of A-grade office buildings maintained at 22,700 Yuan per sq m.
- 2007 July 13
RESIDENTIAL
New flats fewer by saleable area
Completed residential flats for sale had a gross floor area of 12.524 million square meters in Beijing for the 11 months
ended November, a decrease of 5.3 percent from the previous year, according
to a report issued by mainland statistics departments.
Beijing Municipal Department of Statistics and the Beijing Investigation
Team of the National Bureau of Statistics announced that from January to
November, completed housing had a gross floor 18.2 million square meters, down 0.1 percent.
The completed area of housing in Beijing rose as much as 20.1 percent in
the first half, before slowing.
Saleable area of presale of uncompleted flats also decreased 2.9 percent
to 14.425 million square meters GFA in the period, of which residential
flats decreased 6 percent to 12.286 million square meters saleable area.
"From January to November, housing investment [in Beijing] has
grown, while the construction and saleable areas of housing has slowed. Due
to the strong market, the index of housing prices is still high," the
report said.
It said that investment for development for the 11 months ended November
rose 19.4 percent to 162.61 billion yuan (HK$172.19 billion) compared with
the same period last year. Construction area of residential housing rose 5.1 percent in the period
from last year to 99.061 million square meters, of which area of new sites
commenced this year decreased 9.4 percent to 21.383 million square meters
year-on-year. - 2007 December 27 THE
STANDARD
RESIDENTIAL
PROJECTS
- Service
Flats in Chao Yang Men District
- Project:
Sunny Region
Developer: Ever Green
Sunny Region is a mixed-use complex located at the Yansha commercial
belt on the east side of the third ring road, home to the Lufthansa
Centre. The complex encompasses an office tower, a luxurious hotel and
two apartment blocks aimed at expatriate residents, with a total of 206
units on offer. The first phase is now on sale at around $2,700 per
square metre. The hotel and office tower are due to be completed in June
next year.
- Project:
Moon Bay
Developer: Beijing Jingzhun
This massive housing estate set in a green area with a view of the
Chaobai River is about 55 kilometres to the southeast of downtown
Beijing. The first phase--already completed--is a collection of
detached, terraced and semi-detached houses, on sale for 4,000 renminbi
($483) per square metre. A second phase will have houses ranging from
265-642 square metres at 8,000 renminbi per square metre. It offers
watersports, hot springs and golf.
- Project:
The Exchange Beijing
Developer: Reco Meridian Property
Conveniently located at the junction between Jianguomenwai and the east
third ring road, The Exchange Beijing comprises a retail and office
tower, as well as two blocks of luxurious apartments. The 272 units on
offer range from 75-289 square metres. Facilities include a fitness
centre, children's play room, indoor heated swimming pool, sauna and
jacuzzi parlours, business centres, restaurants and mini-marts.
- Bauhania
Mansions
MEDIA FACTS:
Average cost of 30" spot during
prime time on Beijing TV 1,
the city's most-watched local channel*
18:20-19:35 - $4,518
19:35-19:55 - $5,482
19:55-20:35 - $4,578
20:30-21:33 - $4,819
*Based on rate card value.
Top 10 advertising brands on TV (2004)*
1. Oil of Olay - Skin Care /Toilet Soap / Liquid Soap
2. Rejoice - Hair Care /Toilet Soap / Liquid Soap
3. Crest - Toothpaste & Oral Hygiene
4. McDonald's - Fastfood & Takeaway
5. Head & Shoulders - Hair Care
6. Gai Zhong Gai - Tonic/Vitamin
7. Safeguard - Toilet Soap / Liquid Soap
8. Taita Pharm - Tonic/Vitamin
9. Pantene - Hair Care
10. Colgate - Toothpaste & Oral Hygiene
*Local channels only, based on rate card.
(Note: six of the top 10 brands are marketed by Procter & Gamble
Co.)
Top 10 advertising categories on TV
(2004)*
1. Shampoo & Conditioner
2. Skin Care
3. Tonic & Vitamin
4. Passenger Vehicles
5. Toothpaste & Oral Hygiene
6. Toilet Soap / Liquid Soap
7. Fast food & Takeaway
8. Laundry Product
9. Sanitary Protection
10. Communication Equipment & Service
*Local channels only, based on rate card.
Top 5 Local Channels by Ad Revenue
1. Beijing TV 1 - Variety (Satellite)
2. Beijing TV 4 - Drama & Movies
3. Beijing TV 2 - Art
4. Beijing TV 6 - Sports
5. Beijing TV 3 - Science & Education
Sources: Nielsen Media Research &
AGB Nielsen Media Research
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