A research report indicates that the proportion of newly contracted large-scale construction area secured by top-tier project management enterprises has declined, while mid-tier firms are accelerating their efforts. According to the 2025 China Real Estate Project Management Enterprise Ranking, the top five companies accounted for 41% of newly contracted planned construction area, a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024. Companies ranked 6th to 15th accounted for 40%, an increase of 3 percentage points from 2024. This reflects a decrease in concentration among leading firms, accelerated project expansion by mid-tier companies, and continued adjustment and exit by smaller players.
Central government-owned and state-owned enterprises are actively entering the project management sector, developing rapidly by leveraging their resource advantages. Among the top 50 enterprises by sales revenue, 30 have large-scale project management operations, accounting for 60%. Of these, 18 are central or state-owned enterprises, representing nearly 40%. Out of 16 national real estate central enterprises, 12 are engaged in project management, with 4 having established independent business units for this purpose. In 2025, these enterprises developed swiftly in this field, with some showing significant growth in newly contracted area. For instance, China Railway Real Estate saw a 51% year-on-year increase, while Minmetals Land and China Railway Construction Real Estate both reported growth exceeding 100%. Their inherent advantages in resources provide strength in urban renewal, affordable housing, and distressed asset disposal for capital providers.
Commercial project management remains the dominant model, accounting for over 70% of the business, indicating stable structural trends. Statistics from typical enterprises show that government, commercial, and capital project management accounted for 21.6%, 74.0%, and 4.4% of newly contracted area in 2025, respectively. Commercial management held steady compared to 2024, while capital management saw a slight increase of 1.1 percentage points. As the phased task of "ensuring project delivery" is largely complete, project management led by asset management companies and local governments for ensuring building completion has decreased. Capital project management now primarily involves distressed asset disposal, which places greater demands on the product and marketing capabilities of management firms, with a strong emphasis on operational stability. The entry of central and state-owned enterprises has contributed to growth in this segment. The structure of project management models has remained stable in recent years, with commercial management consistently comprising about 70% of business. This model is generally preferred as it typically commands higher management fees than government projects, carries lower risk than capital projects, and may involve sales agency, thereby generating more revenue for management firms.
The proportion of business布局 in second-tier cities has declined, while shares in both first-tier and third- and fourth-tier cities have increased. Based on statistics from typical firms, first-tier, second-tier, and third-/fourth-tier cities accounted for 8.1%, 46.3%, and 45.6% of newly contracted area in 2025, respectively. The shares for second-tier and lower-tier cities are becoming increasingly similar, indicating a continued strategic shift towards lower-tier cities. Benefiting from frequent favorable policies for urban renewal and old district renovation, some companies are exploring opportunities in this area, seeking projects in first-tier cities like Guangzhou and Beijing, where the share of newly contracted area increased by 3.1 percentage points compared to 2024.
Business expansion is increasingly focused on major city clusters. In 2025, the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao, Chengdu-Chongqing, and central-western regions accounted for 78.3% of the newly contracted area for typical management firms, an increase of 10 percentage points from 2024, showing a stronger focus on major clusters. All regions except Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei experienced growth, with the central-western and Chengdu-Chongqing regions growing fastest, increasing by 4.9 and 4.6 percentage points, respectively. Within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, project management scale declined in Hebei province, with activity concentrated in a few cities like Shijiazhuang, Baoding, and Langfang.
The proportion of commodity residential projects continues to rise, while firms actively explore urban renewal projects. In terms of project type, commodity housing, commercial-office buildings, and affordable housing accounted for 86.8% of newly contracted area in 2025, consistent with the 2024 share. Commodity residential projects represented 66.7%, an increase of 11.4 percentage points year-on-year, while commercial-office and affordable housing shares were 13.5% and 6.7%, respectively, both declining. Some management firms began positioning themselves in the urban renewal sector in 2025, which accounted for 2.7% of the total.
Management fee rates continue to decline, with the trend of lower fees persisting. Statistics on the number of projects managed by typical firms show that 84% of projects had management fees between 1% and 3% in 2025, an increase of 4 percentage points from 2024. Among these, projects with fees solely in the 1%-2% range accounted for 45%, up 2 percentage points year-on-year. Intensifying competition among management firms has led to continued compression of fee rates, a trend expected to continue.
Projects combining management and sales agency account for nearly half of all projects. Statistics indicate that projects involving both construction management and sales agency represented 49% of the total, the highest proportion, while pure management projects accounted for 28%. Most projects now require management firms to handle sales, with fee payments often linked directly to sales performance, heavily testing the marketing capabilities of these enterprises.