Leonard Ng, managing director of leading real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis in Shanghai, said at the China Industrial Real Estate Summit, a two-day conference held in Shanghai recently, that industrial China property for sale market is likely to see massive growth in the coming years, driven by strong manufacturing and retail activities.

Industrial real estate, which generally includes logistics, industrial parks and business space, is increasingly emerging as a new investment hot spot in China's real estate market, according to a recent industry forum.

Leonard Ng said, 'China's industrial real estate market is still in its infancy. Most of the investors in the industrial real estate market and facilities are currently clustered in the country's eastern and coastal areas. But about 800 million people are living in China's vast central and western region where such logistics infrastructure is to be improved, which points to huge potential in this market.'

Analysts at the conference pointed in particular to China's logistics market, which includes freight, warehousing and distribution facilities. This is set to grow massively in the coming years, driven by dynamic retail activities. Figures such as 30% a year compounded were mentioned.

Chong Siak Ching, president and chief executive officer of Ascendas, Asia's leading industrial real estate developer, said the booming economy and manufacturing in China presented 'many opportunities' for industrial property developers.

Zhou Jianchun, deputy director of the Institute of China Land Survey and also a member of the China Land Society, said, although the Ministry of Land and Resources already has policies regarding the supply of land and industrial property prices, local governments are much more relaxed about this aspect.

He said, 'They (local governments) usually auction the land designated for industrial property development at much lower prices and always set loose limits on land supply in this regard, which has made the returns on industrial property development higher than other commercial property development activities.'