Guangzhou is cultivating a dynamic landscape of emerging industries. The most prominent sectors include gaming and animation, next-generation digital appliances, cross-border e-commerce, e-commerce services, and internet services​. These industries are characterised by their rapid technological adoption and a strong export orientation, forming new pillars of the local economy alongside traditional manufacturing.As these businesses expand, their growing need for skilled talent in R&D, operations, and marketing directly increases their office space requirement. Furthermore, as companies mature, they expect higher quality and specifications from their office environments. Therefore, Grade A office markets have seen a growing presence and increased leasing activity from firms within these dynamic emerging industries.

Analysis of office relocation transactions over the past three years, encompassing Grade A, Grade B, and industrial office properties, reveals that emerging industries accounted for 70% of relocations where space increased by more than 50%. For relocations involving a doubling or more of the leased area, they accounted for 85%.

For example, one local gaming company upgraded from a business park to a newly-completed Grade A office building in Guangzhou International Finance Town (GZIFT),  increasing its leased area 3.5-fold to 16,000 sqm. Apart from office consolidation after the Merger and Aquisition (M&A), other critical drivers included rapid increase in staffing requirements, and the opportunity to upgrade its workspace and brand image with only a slight increase in rent.

Figure 1: Guangzhou office market relocation transaction analysis (2023–2025)

Emerging industry companies still strongly prefer well-equipped business parks in core locations, particularly corporate villas, which offer spacious, flexible layouts, premium management, privacy, and an enhanced brand image akin to a headquarter. However, the pursuit of these premium assets is constrained by their limited supply and persistently low vacancy rates. Consequently, these companies are increasingly opting for  newly-built Grade A office buildings in emerging business districts adjacent to high-quality business parks, such as Pazhou and GZIFT. These buildings offer them a chance to move to a quality workspace from the old business parks while managing costs effectively. 

Figure 2: Distribution of emerging industries across office spaces in selected core areas of Guangzhou

Emerging office submarkets are progressing toward maturity. The rise of innovation-driven industries has generated strong and consistent demand for modern office space outside traditional CBDs, making emerging hubs like Pazhou and GZIFT increasingly attractive. As demand grows, these submarkets are expected to see continuous improvements in occupancy rates and gradual stabilization of rental levels.