China’s real estate industry continues to be in a downturn, with companies being extremely cautious about land acquisitions. On April 28, the Shenzhen Public Resource Trading Center announced that the land parcel A002-0060 in Bao’an District, originally scheduled for auction on April 30, was halted due to no real estate companies submitting bids.
According to a report by Caixin, the second residential land parcel introduced in Shenzhen in 2025 was supposed to be auctioned on April 30. However, on April 28 noon, the Shenzhen Public Resource Trading Center suddenly issued a supplementary notice stating that they received a notification from the Shenzhen City Planning and Natural Resources Bureau to halt the auction process.
This residential land parcel is located in the core area of Bao’an Central District in Shenzhen and was listed on April 20. The starting price was set at 8.627 billion yuan, and the winning bidder would be determined based on the principle of “highest bidder wins.” It was predicted in the industry that the total transaction price of the land parcel could exceed 10 billion yuan.
Multiple sources in Shenzhen’s real estate industry revealed to Caixin that by the end of the bidding period, not a single enterprise had registered to participate in the auction. Authorities were concerned that a failed auction could negatively impact market confidence, leading to the last-minute cancellation of the transaction.
Since the third quarter of 2021, the real estate market has been declining, and the subdued sentiment has spread to the land market. Normally, Shenzhen authorities conduct preliminary investigations on real estate companies’ land acquisition intentions before the land is put up for sale, and at least one key enterprise must be secured for the land to enter the listing process.
On March 4, the Shenzhen Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, in conjunction with the Bao’an District government, held an investment promotion meeting specifically for this land parcel. Over 40 companies participated, including China Resources Land, China Overseas Land & Investment, Shenzhen Metro Holdings, Xiamen C&D Inc., Wuhan Urban Construction, Agile Group, Hongrongyuan, and Galaxy Holding. Officials informed the real estate companies that “this is the largest residential and commercial land parcel released in Bao’an Central District in nearly five years.”
“A high probability of real estate companies expressing land acquisition intentions in advance is necessary for the land parcel to go ‘on the shelves,'” explained a senior executive of a listed central enterprise in Shenzhen. Companies that were initially interested in bidding may have changed their intentions midway, failing to apply for the auction as agreed.
Public records show that as of 2025, Shenzhen has only completed one residential land transaction in mid-January, generating revenue of 3.065 billion yuan.