98 new shopping malls have been opened across the country, many of which are top blockbuster projects.

Driven by the National Day consumption boom, the number of newly launched projects across China hit a peak in the third quarter. According to incomplete statistics from Winshang Big Data, 98 centralized commercial projects opened across China in the third quarter of 2026, with a total commercial floor area exceeding 6.96 million square meters. While the number is surging, the "gold content" has also risen significantly, a number of high-profile projects opened intensively, including:

The first MixC in Guangzhou — Guangzhou Bai'etan MixC; the first "Halo" series project in Nanjing — Nanjing Halo Garden City; the first JD SPACE in China — Suqian JD SPACE; the first art-concept outlet in China — Nanjing Deji Art Outlet; the first curatorial-style commercial complex in Central China — TX Changsha Young Power Center; the first K11 in Fujian — Xiamen K11 Select; the first MixC World in Foshan — Foshan MixC World, etc.

01.

East China Continues to Top the Rankings, Guangzhou Takes "Double First Place" 

In terms of regional distribution, the pattern of "East China dominates, South China follows closely" is still maintained.

East China Region: 38 new projects opened, continuing to rank first; South China Region: 18 new projects opened, with a floor area exceeding 170,000 square meters, closely following East China; North China, Central China, Southwest China: 14, 12 and 10 new projects opened respectively; Northwest China, Northeast China: both saw single-digit growth, with 5 and 1 new projects opened respectively.

In terms of cities, only Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing have 5 or more opened projects, among which Guangzhou won the "double first place" in both quantity and floor area this quarter.

■ Guangzhou has the largest number of opened projects, with a total of 11 projects, the commercial floor area exceeds 1.03 million ㎡, making it the well-deserved "Opening Champion" this quarter. It not only has phenomenal urban landmarks such as Bai'etan MixC, but also regional blockbuster projects such as Junchao · GRANTRALONE, Tianhe Hopson One, as well as characteristic non-standard commercial projects such as Guangzhou Brewery 1985.

■ Beijing opened 8 new projects, with outstanding performance in stock renovation/urban renewal projects, including the instantly popular Beijing Songzhuang Shoukai LONG Street, Beijing Wangjing V-HUB, and Beijing Zhongguancun 5°lab Central Field which focuses on the pan-two-dimensional track, etc.

■ Nanjing opened 7 new projects with diverse types, including park-style commerce — Nanjing Halo Garden City, Nanjing Youhuwan Shopping Park, 24-hour non-standard block commerce — Nanjing China World Trade Center Center, the first domestic art-concept outlet — Nanjing Xianlin Deji Art Outlet, and the integrated commercial complex of "sports + commerce + culture + health care" — Nanjing Xinjiekou Youth Olympic City Living Room, etc.

02.

Commercial Giants Launch New Blockbusters: Competitive Products Are More Than Benchmark Product Lines

Among the 98 newly opened centralized commercial projects across China in the third quarter, the number of chain product line projects reached 45, accounting for nearly 46%. Leading commercial management enterprises not only build flagship projects in core business districts of high-tier cities, but also regard the sinking market as the main force for incremental layout. However, the market has put forward higher requirements for commercial management companies. In addition to the standardized replication of product lines, the full-chain asset management operation capability of the "hexagonal warrior" type is becoming a new competitive threshold.

■ China Resources Mixc Lifestyle delivered the most outstanding performance, with multiple product lines including MixC, MixC World and MixC Hub seeing new projects unveiled intensively. Guangzhou Bai'etan MixC is extremely popular, with passenger flow reaching 287,000 person-times on its opening day (September 30), approaching the daily maximum capacity of 300,000 person-times; Foshan MixC World, which has also been open for a full month, remains hot. With high-density first stores and scene design integrating parks, it has attracted a total of more than 3.17 million person-times of passenger flow.

Image source: Official Xiaohongshu account of Guangzhou Bai'etan MixC

■ Poly Commercial Travel launched its "Time Series" product line in three cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou consecutively. Guangzhou Xiangxue Time, Beijing Poly Time Place and Shanghai Pudong Development Time Place are all park-style commercial projects with small and medium floor area. 

■ Powerlong Commercial opened 3 new projects planned for the second half of the year in September, all located in the Yangtze River Delta region, including 2 Powerlong Plazas. 

■ New Town Wuyue Commercial Management launched one project each in August and September. Among them, Urumqi Wuyue · Garden City (August 28), co-built with China Merchants Shekou, recorded a total passenger flow of more than 300,000 person-times on its opening day, refreshing the record of newly opened shopping malls in Urumqi in the past decade. 

■ Longfor Commercial opened its first Paradise Walk layout in Kunming — Longfor Kunming Times Paradise Walk and Longfor Hangzhou Qianwan Paradise Walk on September 25. Among them, Longfor Hangzhou Qianwan Paradise Walk was jointly delivered with Qiantang District Construction Investment Group through light asset output management, which is the first state-owned enterprise output management project in Zhejiang. More than 60 first stores settled in, with 290,000 person-times of passenger flow and 9.7 million yuan of sales in the first three days of opening.

■ It is also worth noting that Invest Industrial Group, which is transforming into a "market-oriented large asset management platform", landed 2 more light asset expansion projects at the end of September. Quanzhou · Shijing Shizhou City, jointly built with Quanzhou Urban Construction Group, is the first coastal non-standard commercial block in Fujian; Guangzhou Brewery 1985, co-built with Zhujiang Brewery, also reflects the operation capability of Invest Industrial in industrial heritage and block commerce.

At the same time, benchmark product line projects launched in Nanjing and Xiamen by Hong Kong and foreign enterprises such as Hongkong Land, K11 by AC Group, SM have also attracted extremely high attention.

Nanjing Halo Garden City is the first Halo project of Hongkong Land's comprehensive property layout in Nanjing in Chinese mainland. With the core positioning of "fun natural life destination in the city center", it deeply deconstructs Nanjing's local culture relying on the innovative model of "POD commerce + cultural tourism".

Xiamen K11 Select is positioned as "the first wetland conservation-oriented shopping art cultural tourism landmark in China", integrating multiple functions such as wetland ecological conservation, rail transit TOD development, commercial consumption, art and culture, and urban cultural tourism.

CHAO BLOCK is the fourth-phase commercial part of SM Xiamen Complex, and also the first non-standard commercial project of SM China. The project uses an open design to dissolve the boundary between indoor and outdoor, and outlines a flexible "urban Playground" where life happens freely at any time through scenes such as curatorial spaces, day-night alternation, art events and pet parks.

03.

Stock Renovation Accounts for More Than 32%, Its Hit Rate Is No Less Than That of Newly Built Projects

Stock renovation remains one of the core main lines this quarter. Among the 98 newly opened projects counted in the third quarter, there are 32 re-opened projects after stock renovation, accounting for more than 32%. What is more noteworthy is that the "hit rate" of these stock renovation projects is also quite competitive, no less than that of newly built projects.

Beijing Wangjing · V-HUB: Turned a bad hand into the new blockbuster of Wangjing

The project was formerly known as Fangheng Shopping Center which opened in 2008, and was renovated by Xinchen Commercial Group through light asset operation. After two years of closed renovation, the mall is positioned as an "urban paradise", with 60% of the area built as an open public space. The 40,000 ㎡ shopping mall introduced 156 brands, including 88 first stores, accounting for more than 56%. The most eye-catching part is the Ito-Yokado supermarket that returned to Wangjing after 12 years. The passenger flow of the project directly exceeded 100,000 person-times on the opening day.

Guangzhou Brewery 1985: Brewery transformed into an open "river-view" shopping mall

The project is located in Party Pier, Haizhu District, facing the river directly. It was formerly the old workshop of Zhujiang Brewery, and was renovated through protective activation of "minimum intervention, maximum retention". The project breaks the boundary of enclosed shopping malls, connects the water tower square, suspended terrace and riverside rooftop with an open three-dimensional block, and builds a large-span cloud-flow sky curtain relying on Y-shaped structural columns, taking into account both 360° river view and the effect of night light theater at the same time.

In terms of brands, it focuses on sports, catering and lifestyle, introducing the first South China store of Rock Time Climbing, the first Haizhu store of TREK Cycling, KUDDO Coffee, Grid Coffee, Thai Aili, COMMUNE, Sisyphe Bookstore, PICOCICI entertainment space and other brands.

Image source: Official Xiaohongshu account of Brewery 1985

Suqian JD SPACE: Materialized supply chain capabilities, the 30,000 ㎡ shopping mall was packed with visitors

Suqian JD SPACE is located in Building 6 of Suqian JD Smart City, renovated from the original food city. It breaks the traditional "brand platter" mode of shopping malls and adopts the two-wheel drive mode of "self-operation + brands". As the first JD SPACE in China, the biggest feature of the project is the deep integration of "local culture" and "founder's feelings".

In terms of brands, it has introduced hundreds of high-quality brands, more than 35% of which are first stores in Suqian and even East China, including the first national store of JD Zaozao, the first East China store of JD Home Museum, and the first 7FRESH supermarket in Suqian. At the same time, JD on-demand delivery service is fully accessed to realize the omni-channel consumption closed loop of online and offline. In 4 days after opening, the total passenger flow of the project exceeded 350,000 person-times, and the total sales reached 15 million yuan.

04.

The Outlet Track Is Booming! Competing Not Only for "Luxury Content" But Also for "Sports Content"

A total of 7 outlet projects (including phase II expansion) opened across China in the third quarter, most of which opened at the end of September. The new supply of traditional pure discount outlets has basically disappeared. From "discount-driven" to "experience-driven", competing for "luxury content" and also for "sports content"... outlet giants are all trying their best to find new growth points.

■ The most anticipated one is Nanjing Deji Art Outlet. Deji Group entered the outlet business for the first time to build "the first art-concept outlet in China", focusing on the lifestyle demands of young consumers, and introducing many high-energy first stores including the first e-sports flagship hall of IQOO, the first national outlet store of COLOMNO, etc.

Nanjing Deji Art Outlet

■ Shanshan Commercial opened 2 projects on the same day (September 25). The phase II expansion of Nanchang Shanshan Outlet, a 9-year-old store, saw its sales increase by 120% year-on-year during the opening event (September 24-28), with a cumulative passenger flow of nearly 300,000 person-times; Wuxi Shanshan Outlet is its first government-enterprise cooperation light asset project, with a floor area of 130,000 ㎡ to build the largest pure indoor block-style outlet mall in East China.

Brands including Bailian, Sand River, Florence all saw the phase II opening of their projects. They broke away from the simple logic of space expansion, and combined local culture to create an integrated micro-vacation cultural, commercial and tourism model. Among them, Shanghai Qingpu Bailian Outlet Phase II added more than 100 brands, creating a dual IP cultural narrative system of Su Dongpo & Oria; Sand River (Shijiazhuang) Outlet Phase II is newly positioned as "the first super outlet integrating culture, commerce and tourism in Hebei", and completed systematic upgrading around four super IPs such as "Super Sports" and "Super Kids".

This article is from the WeChat official account "Winshang", author: Winshang Treasure Team, published by 36Kr with authorization.