Visits to China’s big city centers are down as travel flows change, shopping moves online

Foot traffic is down in China’s city centers. That has implications for bricks-and-mortar retail and commercial real estate.

CEIC’s newly added datasets on footfall show a broad decline across the country, especially in the megacities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. This reflects China’s subdued consumer confidence, but also a broad redistribution of commuting flows and urban employment.

Households increasingly prefer to buy goods online rather than venture into traditional shopping districts.

Bricks-and-mortar consumption patterns are also likely shifting to neighborhood offerings nearer to people’s homes. (For instance, our granular data reveals lively foot traffic in Dongpu – a fast-growing Guangzhou area that’s doing the best among local districts.)