In 2007, the total grade A office stock in Pudong was about 9.9 million square feet, and now that figure is at 16.9 million square feet, says Anthony Couse, the managing director of JLL in Shanghai. "By 2014, according to our research, the total stock for Pudong will be about 32.8 million square feet," Couse says. The older business area, neighboring Puxi, is now at 32.4 million square feet.

He says the Pudong market has been resilient and has a strong capacity to recover, as the districts' rents bottomed out before most other major markets in China. "In Q1, rents in Pudong's office market posted an increase of 5.4%, and reached an average rent of RMB 6.40 ($0.94) per square meter per day." About 3.7 million square feet will be completed in the districts this year alone, but JLL officials say the draw of the region as an international finance and shipping center, as well as the upcoming World Expo, will ensure strong demand.

In 2009, JLL assisted clients transact leases of about 1.1 million square feet in Pudong. The company is the leasing agent for Shanghai IFC, Azia Center, One Lujiazui and Chamtime International Financial Center. Across China, JLL has 12 offices, including an office in Puxi.