Although China has continued to suspend the entry of most foreigners, Shanghai’s expatriate-quality rental market was strong over the past months, primarily due to strong demand from wealthy locals.

While no one can predict when the COVID-19 outbreak will be contained, the pandemic has firmly stalled and reversed rising property trends across Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore. AIRINC spoke to industry experts across Asia’s most dynamic business hubs to understand the unique characteristics of each market and what changes and opportunities lie ahead.

When I took the metro at 6am on a Sunday morning in Beijing, trains were running every three minutes. This past quarter I surveyed six cities in China. The largest of these cities, Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu, all have modern and efficient metro systems.

We’ve all seen pictures of hazy Beijing streets with people walking in masks, and that image is not far from the reality I found while on survey.