From January to October 2025, the total land acquisition value of China's top 100 real estate developers reached 783.8 billion yuan, marking a 26.4% year-on-year increase, according to a recent report. While the growth trend continued, the pace slowed significantly compared to the January-September period, primarily due to multiple large-scale land acquisitions through mergers and acquisitions in September.

State-owned and central enterprises dominated land purchases, with eight out of the top 10 spenders being state-backed entities. However, some private developers, particularly from Zhejiang and Sichuan, also showed active investment.

In terms of newly added land value, GREENTOWN CHINA (03900.HK), China Overseas Land & Investment, and China Merchants Shekou secured the top three positions. GREENTOWN CHINA led with 187 billion yuan in new land value, followed by China Merchants Shekou at 180.7 billion yuan, both boosted by urban renewal projects in Shanghai. The top 10 developers accounted for 48.1% of the total new land value among the top 100, with the entry threshold at 7.2 billion yuan.

Joint Ventures Mitigate Risks In October, consortiums became a prevalent model for land acquisitions, particularly in tier-1 and key tier-2 cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, and Chengdu. While the Shanghai Jing'an District C070102 plots fetched the highest price at 7.7 billion yuan, most transactions were modestly priced. Developers increasingly adopted joint ventures to share risks, such as sales volatility, with partnerships often formed between central enterprises, local state-owned entities, or developers and financial investors.

For instance, the Suzhou Sudi 2025-WG-Z22 plot was acquired by a consortium including Hezhijiang Properties, Zhenwei Urban Construction, and GREENTOWN MGMT (09979.HK), with the latter handling project development. Such arrangements, where developers collaborate with capital partners early on, are becoming a new expansion strategy.

Regional Highlights The Yangtze River Delta remained the top region for land investments, with top 10 developers spending 261.7 billion yuan, followed by Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (102 billion yuan) and central-western regions (58.8 billion yuan). State-owned enterprises dominated purchases in key cities, while private players like Binjiang Group (focused on Hangzhou) and Dahua Group (expanding in Shanghai) strengthened their footholds.

In October, high-value residential land deals concentrated in Shanghai and Beijing, with four Shanghai plots totaling 17 billion yuan, including the 7.7 billion yuan Jing'an District site. Beijing contributed two plots worth 5.4 billion yuan, while Xi'an, Guangzhou, Suzhou, and Dongguan each saw one major transaction. Four of the top 10 deals were consortium-based.