Standard 3-year lease with renewal option.

• Typical lease length: 3 years.
• Typical rent-free: 8 months.
• Vacancy: 19.8%; trend softening.
• Standard 3-year lease with renewal option.

TL;DR

• Typical lease length: 3 years.
• Typical rent-free: 8 months.
• Vacancy: 19.8%; trend softening.
• Standard 3-year lease with renewal option.

Structure

Standard 3-year lease with renewal option. Rent gross of management fees but exclusive of utilities. Bank guarantee or rent deposit of 3-6 months standard. Reinstatement at lease-end is contractual.

Negotiating levers

Free rent and TI remain the most negotiable line items; landlords prefer concessions to face-rent cuts because they preserve headline rent and implied valuation. Always model effective rent (face minus PV of concessions).

Key facts

Frequently asked questions

What's a typical lease term in Shanghai?

3 years for institutional Class A. Shorter terms are achievable on smaller floor plates with stronger covenants.

How is rent quoted in Shanghai?

In CNY/sqft/year. We also publish a USD-normalised view ($122/sqft/yr) for cross-market comparison.

Editorial provenance

Reviewed by Kenji Watanabe — APAC contributing editor. Last updated 2026-04-15. See our methodology and editorial standards.

Primary sources for this page

• CBRE Marketview reports — CBRE
• JLL Office Insight — JLL
• Cushman & Wakefield Marketbeat — Cushman & Wakefield
• Savills World Research — Savills
• Colliers Global Office Outlook — Colliers

Full sources index · Submit a correction

Related topics

• Class A Lease Negotiation — How to negotiate a Class A office lease — the playbook from LOI to signed deal.
• APAC Lease Conventions — How APAC office lease conventions differ from US/UK — and how to translate before signing.