Shanghai remains one of the priciest world cities for office space

Shanghai's Pudong ranks as the ninth most expensive office market in the world while Shanghai's Puxi, its counterpart on the other side of the Huangpu River, trails close behind, coming in at the 11th spot, according to JLL's latest Global Premium Office Rent Tracker.

They are among the eight office markets in China that have made the world's top 20 list.

Hong Kong's Central, tied with New York's Midtown, tops the list. Three submarkets in Beijing, namely, Finance Street, CBD, and Zhongguancun, rank No. 3, 6, and 10, respectively, while Hong Kong's Eastern District (No.14) and Shenzhen (No.18) occupy the remaining two spots.

"Tech companies have been expanding rapidly in Beijing, and their demand for office space has skyrocketed, exceeding 600,000 square meters this year," said Mi Yang, head of office market research for JLL China. "While office rent in most Chinese cities decreased, Zhongguancun, where numerous tech firms are located, directly benefited from this growth and experienced faster recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic with a mere 2.2 percent vacancy rate."

Globally by industry, banking and financial services tenants have dominated the demand in terms of space, accounting for 42 percent of premium office leasing. Professional and business services firms are also major players in the premium office market, taking up 17 percent of space in total, JLL's data showed.

While rent in core central business districts remains resilient, which is generally higher by 40 to 50 percent than rent in non-core locations, there is a growing demand around the world for green buildings in the premium office market, JLL said.

Of the premium office buildings surveyed globally by JLL, at least 84 percent have obtained some certification in environmental sustainability, such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) or BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method). However, only 13 percent of them have a health and wellness-related certification, such as WELL or Fitwel, a figure which, as JLL has predicted, is likely to grow as tenants increasingly demand sustainable building credentials.