Beijing's real estate leader, new signals in land acquisition

Text / Beijing Jinshen Lin Zhenxing

Developers in Beijing often jump on good land as soon as they see it. Sometimes even before the land is officially listed for sale, real estate companies are already eyeing it.

Sure enough, while others are still celebrating the Lunar New Year, Xinglan Real Estate in Beijing has quietly “got a head start.”

On February 27, Beijing Xinglan Real Estate announced four bidding plans covering earthwork, supervision, construction, and design, with a total estimated investment of 329.61 million yuan. Their clear target is the Huairou New Town 0103 Block HR00-0103-6001 site.

Who is Xinglan Real Estate?

Don’t be fooled by the new name; it’s actually a wholly owned subsidiary of China State Construction Smart Land. It was registered just on February 14, with a registered capital of 50 million yuan. The legal representative and chairman is Fan Feijun (Chairman of China State Construction Smart Land), and the manager is Zhang Mengcan (Executive General Manager of China State Construction Smart Land JD Company).

This move is somewhat “unusual.”

It’s important to note that China State Construction Smart Land has been quite prominent in Beijing in recent years, heavily invested in Chaoyang and Changping.

Especially at the end of September last year, it spent 4.315 billion yuan to acquire the Sun Palace site, with a floor price reaching 94,200 yuan per square meter, a premium rate of 39%, making it the most “expensive” land in the capital for 2025.

To this end, the senior management team of China State Construction Smart Land even traveled abroad to study luxury projects. But because the site involves subway connectivity and many subway line withdrawals, they could only develop super-large flats.

Five months after acquiring the land, the planning map has yet to be released. It’s said there are two design plans: one is a large development with about 108 units, with an average starting size of 300 square meters and a maximum of over 500 square meters; the other features units of 200, 270, 370, and 500 square meters.

In contrast, the Huairou site, although not officially listed yet, China State Construction Smart Land has already moved in early.

Since the site isn’t officially on the market yet, public information is limited. However, the bidding plan reveals some details—the location of the 6001 site is bounded by Fuzhiyuan East Street to the north, Kaifang Road to the east, Tianqi Road to the south, and Tianqi Road to the west, less than 1 km from Huairou District Government.

The total construction area is about 75,296.36 square meters, with above-ground construction of approximately 44,846.20 square meters and underground construction of about 30,450.16 square meters.

This move by China State Construction Smart Land is quite interesting. On one side is the “cold” of Sun Palace—luxury products with a good appearance but facing significant sales pressure, requiring cautious planning and design.

On the other side is Huairou’s “blue ocean market,” with less fierce competition, manageable land costs, and healthy profit margins, allowing them to leverage their mature product strength to lower the entry barrier.

It seems that Beijing’s “top real estate player” has also realized that instead of fighting fiercely in the core areas’ red ocean, it’s better to switch tracks and find blue oceans in the suburbs. This is not just a land acquisition strategy but a survival wisdom.

01

Why is China State Construction Smart Land venturing so far into Huairou?

First, the popularity of the “good houses” in Huairou—like Beijing Construction’s Jiatang Yunxi—has fueled their land acquisition.

Jiatang Yunxi’s site was acquired by Beijing Construction Real Estate last May at a bottom price of 359 million yuan, with a floor price of 16,500 yuan per square meter, practically a bargain.

The project includes seven buildings, 6-10 stories, with 224 units, mainly 80-140 square meters, with a property rights delivery rate of 76%-84%.

The land price difference is very attractive. Currently, Jiatang Yunxi has signed 211 units, with an average transaction price of 39,419.47 yuan/㎡, and a pre-sale average price of 40,500 yuan/㎡.

Residential sales exceeded 820 million yuan, with a land price coverage rate over 228%. What does this mean? Developers have already doubled their land investment.

In Huairou’s suburban areas, people used to think they could only build “basic needs” housing, but Jiatang Yunxi proved that as long as the quality is good, many buyers are willing to pay for upgrades.

Moreover, the “brother” project China State Construction’s Fangcheng may have also given new insights.

Last September, China State Construction Fangcheng acquired the Zhenyuan Fu site for 560 million yuan, with a floor price of 15,500 yuan/㎡.

So far, Zhenyuan Fu has signed 296 units, with an average price of 32,000 yuan/㎡, and a total transaction volume of about 1.076 billion yuan, with a land price coverage rate over 192%.

Additionally, about 3 km from Zhenyuan Fu, Yanqing’s Shulan Fuzhou, though not as explosive, also reliably recovers land costs with profit.

Shulan Fuzhou’s site was acquired for 246 million yuan, with a residential floor price of about 11,800 yuan/㎡. It was approved last April, with seven buildings, 4-8 stories, 174 units, mainly 115-135㎡ three- and four-bedroom apartments, with a sales guide price of 30,000 yuan/㎡.

Currently, 94 units have been signed, with an average price of 29,243.19 yuan/㎡, totaling about 330 million yuan, with a land price coverage rate over 134%.

Besides Yanqing and Huairou, new projects in Mentougou over the past two years have also made developers very profitable.

For example, Chang’an Huaxi Phase I sold out five times in five months, creating a myth of rapid sales and full sell-out, with total sales of 2.6 billion yuan in one year.

Phase II Jin’an also performed strongly, topping sales charts in January, with 158 units signed, becoming the project with the highest transaction volume in Beijing.

02

Why are these suburban projects so popular? Because supply and demand are severely mismatched!

In the past, when talking about Huairou, Yanqing, and similar suburban districts, the common labels were “needs-based housing,” “vacation properties,” or “weekend homes.”

In essence, it was a “secondary market”—developers stuck to traditional thinking, believing that since it’s suburban, the product quality doesn’t matter much. Planning, design, and supporting facilities are all makeshift. As long as people can live there, don’t expect high quality.

But the market is quietly changing. Suburban areas are still the same remote locations, but the approach has evolved.

These developers have sharp instincts. They’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon: it’s not that nobody wants to buy in the suburbs, but there are simply no good houses available. The local improvement demand has been suppressed for years; buyers with money and expectations just can’t find suitable projects to commit to.

On one side are eager improvement buyers; on the other, high-quality supply remains vacant for long periods. This supply-demand mismatch creates a blue ocean.

And China State Construction Smart Land has the cards—its product development capabilities are proven, and its brand appeal is built. With flagship product lines like “Chen series” and “Fufu series,” entering Huairou, it doesn’t compete on small projects or price wars but leverages product strength to lower the entry barrier.

More importantly, these “good houses” aren’t just for the local market. If the product is strong enough, it can even siphon demand from the city center—buying a small, old apartment in Chaoyang with the same budget or living in a four-generation house in Huairou to enjoy sunshine? Some buyers are already weighing these options.

The result? Pricing power increases, sales accelerate, and profit margins expand.

03

This time, China State Construction Smart Land’s move into Huairou isn’t impulsive; it’s a precise strategic positioning.

In recent years, top developers have often fought fiercely in core areas to maintain market share and rankings, pushing land prices close to or above surrounding sale prices, creating huge hidden risks.

Now, while many are still battling for marginal profits in hot spots, China State Construction Smart Land chooses to avoid the “double-high” red ocean of high premiums and costs, shifting instead to the value depression of Huairou’s suburbs.

The core of this land strategy is to avoid ineffective internal competition. By acquiring land at relatively low costs and manageable premiums, they secure a safety margin for the project, leaving room for future profits and product refinement.

Especially now, when most developers are cautious, and land acquisition thresholds are lowering, this “rural encirclement of the city” approach makes it easier to maintain cash flow safety.

Ultimately, it’s a meticulous calculation of risk versus reward—no longer chasing the “land king” halo blindly, but pragmatically seeking certain returns.

As one of Beijing’s leading real estate players, every move by China State Construction Smart Land carries a signaling effect.

This land acquisition also sends a clear message to the industry: future competition won’t just be about fighting for key locations but about rediscovering value across the entire region.

This requires developers to have stronger urban insight—able to tackle first-tier core areas and also to discover and create value in seemingly ordinary suburban districts.

China State Construction Smart Land’s approach this time is full of strategic wisdom.