Sauna at the office: How co-working spaces are luring China’s young innovators

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Fuelled by Beijing’s calls for an economy based on innovation, shared office spaces with Chinese characteristics are taking off

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UrWork’s flagship project in Beijing’s Central Business District is a 8,000-square-metre space. Handout photo

Michael Standaert

Published: 8:01am, 5 Jun 2017Updated: 8:00am, 5 Jun 2017

Just five years ago, freelancers and entrepreneurs in search of co-working spaces in China were relegated to searching for cafes with readily available outlets to plug into, or renting small apartments with like-minded souls in the cheapest places they could find. There was little sense of community for scattered innovators.

Yet with repeated government calls for innovation, and funding to cover rental and other costs for start-ups in an increasing number of cities like Shenzhen (深圳), Beijing (北京), Shanghai (上海), Chengdu (成都) and Guangzhou (廣州), co-working spaces have rapidly risen in China and are taking on a slightly different flavour than most Western counterparts.

Bicycles outside the office of a bicycle-sharing start-up at a UrWork co-working space in Shenzhen, China. Photo: Reuters

WeWork, valued at around US$18 billion and with a presence in more than 140 locations in 15 countries, has turned its attention to China, opening two co-working spaces in Beijing in May, after two openings in Shanghai. It hopes to open a co-working space in Shenzhen as early as 2018, a WeWork employee said during a tour of the new Beijing space on Guanghua Lu.

WeWork’s biggest Chinese rival, UrWork, recently announced it had raised US$58 million to invest in new spaces, and now has dozens of locations in 20 cities and is looking to expand in Shenzhen and elsewhere.

Co-working office providers flock to Shanghai, Beijing

These two major players are a bit tight-lipped about publicity, a sign of how competitive the co-working market has become in China. WeWork, UrWork and other co-working operations in China don’t like to be called “co-working spaces”. They prefer the term “communities”.