China's mall owners fight to fill space

Chinese mall developers are waiving rents and doing more to attract big-name international retailers to combat a glut of space in shopping centers, Bloomberg reported. Landlords have transitioned from merely offering preferential terms to top tier luxury brands like Louis Vuitton to more mid-market stores like Sweden’s H&M and Spain’s Zara. “Competition in China’s commercial property market is very fierce, especially at those new malls at non-central locations in second- and third-tier cities,” General Manager Carrie Liu of Shui On Development, builder of Shanghai’s Xintiandi entertainment district. Consultancy Cushman & Wakefield said vacancies in smaller cities could rise to 30% next year.