An industry report revealed that China’s coworking market will see more mergers and acquisitions as operators receive more resources and capital.
A China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce and Haozu report found that the top 10 companies occupy 37% of coworking space in China and the top 100 companies occupy 75%, which shows a trend of mark centralization.
Last year, 40 coworking operators left the market, with 3% of them being acquired. For example, China’s major coworking firm Ucommune acquired six brands.
“Consolidation is a natural progress for fast-growing businesses such as co-working spaces” said Mi Yang, head of research at consultancy firm JLL North China. “Operators with market advantages will seek every opportunity to expand their market share.”
The report also revealed that the area of coworking spaces in first-tier cities grew from 2.5 million square meters in 2017, to 3.94 million square meters as of last October.
Jiang Hao, a Shanghai-based partner of consultancy firm Roland Berger, said that fixed desks are unnecessary in a time where employees have the ability to work from home or while traveling.
“We just need to gather from time to time to have a meeting. For most of time, we do our work individually,” Hao said.
