Chinese property developers shrivel up in Australia, New Zealand but are they ‘hibernating’ for better times?

Many Chinese developers in Australia and New Zealand have closed or scaled back, amid a property crisis in China, weak demand and higher construction costs

Chinese property development in Australasia soared around 2013 at the height of China’s ‘go out policy’ that prompted Chinese firms and citizens to seek overseas investments

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Chinese property developers have scaled back in Australia and New Zealand. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 10:30am, 20 Jan 2024

The Chinese developer boom that kicked off in the Australian and New Zealand housing markets a decade ago has ended.

But, unlike other foreign developers before them, their time has closed with a slow fizzle rather than a stampede exit.

Amid a property crisis in China triggered by Beijing’s policies to curb risky borrowing, softer demand for flats in the region, and challenging business conditions such as rising construction costs, many Chinese developers have scaled back operations or closed shop.

The way these developers ended their time in the Australasian markets has been largely driven by their ownership and how much their funders have been affected by China’s property crisis.

People walk past a property agent’s window in Melbourne. Chinese property development in Australasia soared around 2013 at the height of China’s ‘go out policy’ that prompted Chinese firms and citizens to seek overseas investments. Photo: AFP

State-owned developers like Greenland Group and China Poly Group have been actively closing down their Australian operations as their parent companies claw back capital.

Subsidiaries of publicly-listed Chinese developers such as Country Garden, China Aoyuan and Chiwayland have also relinquished their interests as some of them struggle with debt repayment in the face of poor sales and weak cash flow.