To beat glut, shared offices target new startups

China's real estate developers, struggling with a widespread glut of office space, are pursuing a new type of tenant: startups seeking shared work facilities.

Soho China Ltd plans to expand the number of desks in its shared offices almost 10-fold in the next three years, hosting companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. Last week, it signed a deal with Greenland Holdings Corp to help convert the latter's properties into co-working spaces.

Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Ltd in September unveiled a similar plan as part of a new complex in Hangzhou, capital city of Zhejiang province, while China Vanke Co Ltd is wooing e-commerce startups to its projects in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong province.