Lijian Chen, Senior Executive President of China Orient Summit Capital (COS Capital), Moderated the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association Webinar

On April 2, 2020, the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA) Webinar, COVID-19 Disruption: the Path forward for China Property Marker, was held to discuss the opportunities and challenges in China’s post-pandemic real estate industry. Mr. Lijian Chen moderated the webinar as APREA China Chapter Chairman. Mr. Heiming Cheng, Founder and Chairman of KaiLong Group, Mr. Alvin Loo, Head of China in ARA Asset Management, Ms. Angel Tang, Deputy GM of China Overseas Commercial Properties Co. Ltd, and Mr. Chris Wu, Group Chief Financial Officer of Chongbang Group attended the seminar and presented their opinions.

Under the influence of raging COVID-19 pandemic, China’s economy is facing its worst downturn in nearly 30 years. However, as the epidemic has been gradually under controlled and a number of fiscal stimulus programs have been implemented in time, the sign of China’s recovery is starting to emerge. The panelists addressed on how to balance the public safety and economy development, explore new opportunities, and anticipate possible transformation in the real estate market. With the lack of effective vaccine, there’s still some uncertainties forward. The panelists were not confident on a “V-shaped” economy recovery, which was expected by the market. They seemed more in agreement with a “long W-shaped” trend forward, as expressed by Mr. Chris Wu.

China economy is the first to come out of the outbreak and is highly likely to achieve positive economic growth next. The panelists are optimistic about the medium and long term economy development. Mr. Loo still held a sanguine view on the real estate investment outlook in China. Mr. Cheng pointed out that there should be a promising investment window as a result of the recent economy downturn with expected expansion in cap rates. The continuous growth in wealth could further promote the consumption-driven economy, though the recovery of import-export trade might face great challenges over the near term. All in all, he was confident that positive economic growth would be still sustainable going forward.

The panelists also discussed the impact of COVID-19 on different properties. Hotel and retail properties have been negatively impacted most severely while other property types such as warehouses, logistics and data centers are more favored by capital in the post-pandemic future. Rental income of leased office is less affected by the epidemic in the short term, but may face some uncertainties in the long run. Ms. Tang addressed this topic and shared her unique insights on the redefinition of the working space and trends in creative space design.

At last, Mr. Chen invited the panelists to comment on the role of REITs as an efficient real estate financing channel and an important investment asset class after the infection. Nearly 300 professionals from the real estate industry around the world joined this webinar and actively participated in the Q&A session, which to a certain extent has demonstrated that influence of the remote working and online meeting on people’s work and life style could be profound.

For more audiovisual materials of the conference, please refer to https://aprea.asia/webinar-newsstand