Shanghai's retail sector looking up amid recovery

With retail footfall and consumption figures continuing to recover, Shanghai is accelerating business development by boosting shopping mall and retail space supply.

It is projected that some 490,000 square meters of new retail space will be released in the second half, according to CBRE, a commercial real estate services and investment firm.

A separate report issued by the Shanghai Council of Shopping Centers earlier this year predicted that the city's number of shopping malls with a size above 30,000 sq m each will surpass 400 this year, and the rising density of shopping centers across the city will intensify competition within the retail sector as well.

Below is the selection of new shopping centers regarded as online sensations according to social media platform Xiaohongshu, the Chinese equivalent of Instagram.

Panlong Tiandi

Shanghai Panlong Tiandi was officially opened to the public by Shui On Group in late April.

Situated in Shanghai's Qingpu district, Panlong Tiandi is one of the first suburban village renovation projects opened in the city.

By introducing an urban retreat concept encompassing culture, nature and the future, Panlong Tiandi, Xintiandi's rural reinterpretation, integrates its cultural heritage with arts, leisure and entertainment facilities, presenting a new lifestyle for residents in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region.

Within a total floor area of more than 500,000 sq m, Panlong Tiandi introduces 230,000 sq m of public green space, which includes six themed areas, a 3-kilometer circular trail, as well as about 10,000 sq m of outdoor sports venues.

Bailian ZX

Officially known as Bailian ZX creative center, the mall is situated along the city's iconic Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street and completed its renovation before transforming into a shopping mall focused on the culture of animation, comic, game and novel, or ACGN, in January.

Using Z of Generation Z in its name, the shopping center has introduced abundant first stores and flagship stores related to the ACGN concept, including the first overseas store of Tamashii Nations, the first MegaHouse store in China and Shanghai's first Bandai VR zone experience store, among others, according to a Shanghai Observer report.

Xintiandi Style II

After innovations and upgrades, Xintiandi Style II was reopened in January at the city's landmark Xintiandi venue, which literally means new heaven and earth in Chinese.

Focused on young and dynamic retail styles, half of the mall is packed with flagship stores and newly set up stores of different levels. The shopping center nearly doubled its brands from the previous 105 to 200 by January to offer consumers more personalized options.

On the back of Shanghai's goal of building itself into a global fashion hub, 51 percent of the mall's space by January was used for the concept of "Created in China", which serves to incubate and support Chinese designs and brands.

Tian An 1000 Trees

Created by British designer and architect Thomas Heatherwick, the project is known as a reminder of the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Situated along the city's Suzhou Creek, the project takes the form of two tree-covered mountains featuring some 1,000 structural columns and more than 70 plant species. Each of the columns holds a cluster of trees on top, and the automated watering system installed will ensure the trees grow, according to publicly available information.

The first phase of Tian An 1000 Trees was officially launched in late 2021. A total of 29 debut stores were introduced in its 39,000 sq m retail space, including three first stores in Asia and 20 first stores in China, as of December 2021. The second phase of the project is currently under development.