Here’s what 12 Chinese cities tell us about our fast-changing world

It’s hard to miss the daily headlines about the ongoing tariff battle between the U.S. and China. As a CEO, an important part of my job is to think about the potential impacts and what the current impasse means in the context of the broader business environment. Not only because we have 25,000 colleagues in the U.S. and over 16,000 in China, but also because we are talking about the planet’s two largest economies.

Their interaction drives the world. The tone of their dealings with each other reverberates through global business and politics. In addition, we know that today’s number 2 will soon become the number 1 economy in the world. Which reminds us that we should never treat people differently to the way we want to be treated ourselves.

It’s a topic on the minds of many of our clients and colleagues, and it’s something I’ve been reflecting on since visiting JLL’s Shanghai office a few weeks ago. I wanted to share a few thoughts on that experience and what insights it offers me on how things might play out.

Bird’s-eye view of China’s development

Since 2007, we have produced an annual view on China’s cities that offers a look through a real estate lens at an economy in transformation. This year’s report takes on a new scope and significance by focusing on the 12 mainland cities that will deliver on the country’s long-term ambitions for innovation and influence. Home to a new generation of energetic, tech-savvy firms, the China12 are extending their global reach and forging ever-deeper linkages abroad.

The shift our experts have recognised in this latest edition is that the energy in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuhan, Tianjin, Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi’an, is starting to come from the ground up, not only from top-down government edicts. Simply put, changes to the foundations of China’s most vibrant cities are accelerating the development of this economic superpower.

Thinking about the diverse group of cities that populate the list, Shanghai embodies China’s readiness to embrace change through constant reinvention and disruption. Beijing is the cultural and political heart of the nation, but is also home to truly world-class innovation and academic capabilities. Meanwhile Xi’an, among China’s most fabled cities, is the starting point of the Silk Road network being recreated with Shanghai’s financial firepower. Centres like Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu are prioritizing research and development, biotech and IT clusters. 

Then there are powerhouse cities from Hangzhou to Wuhan – rapidly-developing business ecosystems arrayed around the Yangtze River corridor. Meanwhile, cities like Tianjin and Chongqing have vast potential but are still in the process of moving up the value chain to get a piece of China’s 6.5 percent growth and compete with the Tier 1 set.

With all this in mind, I can safely say nowhere else is an urban landscape reinventing itself with greater speed, breath, ambition or global impact than in China. For all of those who are now pointing to the fact that China is not a democracy, I acknowledge that, but there’s no ignoring the extraordinary growth and success of China’s leading cities. Which only makes it even more important that we stay engaged and build as many global ties between China and the rest of the world as we can.

And when I think back to my recent visit to Shanghai, it leaves me more convinced than ever that the call of vibrant cities is not just about big business and big buildings. These are places that thrive on human capital, and growth fueled by attracting talent.

Our office in Shanghai is a case in point. It’s a showcase of our approach to the future of work: flexible, human-centric spaces that enable different work styles, but also provide ample opportunity for play. There’s a gym with daily yoga and Zumba classes, so it’s not unusual to see colleagues in workout clothes with yoga mat in hand!

Since its launch in 2017, we’ve already seen productivity gains and we know it’s a valuable tool to attract and retain the best talent in a highly competitive market.

Putting humans at the heart of spaces

However, creating human-centric spaces and livable cities remains a work in progress in China as well as in other big, developing economies. Outside our peaceful Shanghai office is a bustling, densely populated city of 24 million people. The pace of life there can feel startling, but for all the rapid development, it’s clear that China’s plan is a long-term one. It’s a country where life can seem anything but patient, but that belies the ambitions of a government with its eye on the future. Creating sustainable cities has to be intrinsic to those plans.

Which brings me back to the tariff tensions. To obsess over the short term is to miss the long term view. When you take the pulse on the ground in China, concerns about a quarterly growth miss or a stock market dip quickly fall away. There is a vision that goes beyond the headlines of today, tomorrow or even next month, which is why I’m confident the world’s two biggest economies will find ways to coexist and cooperate as they evolve.

China is already altering city skylines and urban footprints through Belt and Road infrastructure development and significant capital flows. While capital movement will ebb and flow with government policy, the next wave of Chinese corporate expansion, innovation and influence will add a new, and perhaps subtler, dimension to China’s relationship with the rest of world and its impact on global real estate markets.

In many ways, I view the global economy of tomorrow as a series of tubes and wires connecting the most important cities of the world – London with Tokyo, Shanghai with New York, and so on. Today, most of the China12 sit just outside that order. But their status is changing – and rising – at dizzying speed.

 Every year more people graduate from China’s flourishing universities, having been raised within the aspirational environment of a growing middle class. The ambitions of this rapidly expanding group of highly qualified young people will go beyond just creating wealth, which makes me very hopeful that the values of the people living in the world’s most vibrant cities, including the China12, are more closely aligned than we might think.

Have a read of our China12 report here and let me know what you think.