In recent times, China’s economy has been experiencing a continuous decline, impacting various industries, especially those related to the real estate market. The residential property sector has entered a period of chill, with “withdrawal” becoming a prevalent phenomenon within the industry.
In March of this year, Vanke Property, a benchmark enterprise in the property management industry in China, made a strategic withdrawal that shook the industry in its long-cultivated market of Xuzhou. The Xuzhou branch of Nanjing Vanke Property Management Co., Ltd. issued announcements one after another, declaring the formal termination of property services for six residential projects in Xuzhou starting from midnight on June 30.
On April 3, an article titled “The Great Retreat of Property Management” published in the Economic Observer sparked market attention. The article mentioned that as of March 31, the 2025 annual performance report of Yajule Services showed a 3.1% year-on-year decrease in property management service revenue, a 15.1% decline in urban service revenue, and significant reductions of 17.9% and 75.5% in owner value-added services and non-owner value-added services, respectively.
Yajule attributed the performance fluctuations to the overall downturn in the real estate industry, proactive optimization of inefficient business structures, pricing pressures brought by intensified industry competition, and increased costs due to service quality enhancements. In 2025, Yajule had voluntarily withdrawn from 548 managed projects, resulting in a reduction of 4.82 million square meters in managed area and a decrease in the number of covered cities by 12.
The report stated that voluntary withdrawal from inefficient businesses became the most common action among property enterprises in 2025. Performance reports showed that Caihui Life terminated the management of an area of 61.249 million square meters, while China Overseas Property ceased renewing or withdrew from projects totaling 55.6 million square meters. Additionally, projects withdrawn by Shimao Service and Everbright Service exceeded 30 million square meters each.
On April 7, an article titled “Saying Farewell to Land Grabbing, Property Companies Withdraw Seeking Change” was released by the First Financial.
The article mentioned that figures such as Caihui Life’s termination of over 60 million square meters of management, China Overseas Property’s withdrawal from 55.6 million square meters, and Country Garden Service’s estimated withdrawal of over 80 million square meters were sequentially emerging in 2025. The property industry is undergoing a collective transformation from “land grabbing” to “proactive streamlining.”
The article argues that this wave of withdrawals sweeping across the entire industry is not merely a simple corporate adjustment but rather an inevitable choice for the property sector amidst the downturn of real estate and the restructuring of market logic. It is a profound test for industry development models and the social security system.
On April 8, the topic labeled “The Great Retreat of Property Management” surged on Weibo and Baidu Hot Search.
Automobile blogger and Weibo influencer “Zixuan’s Car Diary” commented, “Recently, many residential areas are facing the situation of property withdrawals. Some are unable to sustain due to operational pressures, while others have ongoing conflicts with homeowners that remain unresolved. When the property management leaves, daily maintenance, security, and hygiene in the community are affected, making life inconvenient for homeowners as well.”
A national first-class e-sports referee and Weibo influencer “Brother Xiaoyao__XiaoYao” mentioned, “Failing to collect fees, high costs, and project losses have led many property companies to actively ‘abandon’ residential areas. One major factor behind property withdrawals is the low rate of property fee collection in some projects. Many homeowners believe that the services are poor, refuse to pay fees, resulting in lower revenue for property companies, which further deteriorates service quality. In such a vicious cycle, property companies simply abandon the community.”
Political and economic trends researcher and Ph.D. in Management, “Trendsetter Ma Jiangbo” expressed, “A recent case in Wuhan’s Huangpi involved a brand new residential area that was only a few years old. Their withdrawal announcement was bluntly worded: the increasing number of unpaid property fees, developers withholding payments, and a joint request from many homeowners to directly cut property fees by 50%… These two major reasons for property withdrawals have been explicitly highlighted – the low rate of property fee collection and homeowners demanding reduced fees, leading to a decline in company revenue.”