During the end of the third quarter '09, rental rates for Premium Grade A buildings seemed to have levelled out at about 8 RMB per sqm./day, but for the beginning the fourth quarter an increase to about 8,6 RMB per sqm./day can be observed.

In China, the only owners of land are the state or the rural collective economic organizations (CEO). Private land ownership does not exist. Collective land is used for agricultural purposes, all the other ground is state land which can be used temporary. It needs to be acquired from the collective in order to be converted into State owned land for which Land Use Rights may begranted. This land tenure system was introduced in China in 1986.

The negative impact of the global financial crisis has spilled over into the major cities of the Greater China, according to KC Real Estate's January 2009 market research.

In the office sector, Shanghai and Hong Kong suffered most, seeing a sharp setback in demand due to the agglomerate of multinational corporations (MNCs), many of which were adversely affected by the financial crisis.

 The PBOC (People's Bank of China) Issues Restrictions on Housing Mortgages - Where will this lead real estate development?

Public Offerings, bank loans, private equity financing and non-institutionalized borrowing have always been regarded as the four main financial sources for real estate developers. Since the CSRC announced this year in April that IPO funded institutions are restricted from acquiring land for future development, both PBOC and CBRC have also stated restrictions regarding loans on properties. Also any other forms of lending funds or mortgages to these real estate developers is strictly prohibited.