China pipeline slightly down from 2024 peak

INTERNATIONAL REPORT — China’s hotel construction pipeline through the first quarter of 2025 is down slightly from its peak total in the third quarter of 2024, according to Lodging Econometrics data.

The pipeline stood at 3,704 projects and 670,185 rooms. At the close of the first quarter, China had 2,752 projects and 490,897 rooms under construction, 316 projects and 55,287 rooms were scheduled to start construction anytime within the next 12 months, while 636 projects and 124,001 rooms were in the early planning stage.

During the first quarter, 144 new hotels and 21,797 rooms opened in China, with an additional 1,009 new hotels and 151,907 rooms forecast to open the rest of the year. LE analysts forecast 765 new hotels and 133,332 rooms to open in 2026.

Through Q1, construction started in China, which stood at 237 projects and 38,775 rooms, showing a 13% increase in projects and a 16% increase in rooms compared to Q4 2024. Hotel renovations and brand conversions in China in Q1 increased to 189 projects and 34,797 rooms, up 12% by projects year-over-year.

The upper midscale chain scale continues to lead China’s hotel construction pipeline through Q1 with 1,161 projects and 177,644 rooms, while upscale projects reached an all-time high project total in Q1, with 1,043 projects and 223,499 rooms, up 11% by projects and 5% by rooms YOY. Together, these two leading chain scales accounted for 60% of the projects for rooms in the country’s total pipeline.

Chengdu was the top market in China’s pipeline with 145 projects and 25,898 rooms. Shanghai was second with 131 projects and 24,733 rooms, while Guangzhou is third with 119 projects and 24,384 rooms. Hangzhou (96 projects and 19,425 rooms) and Xi’an (89 projects and 15,768 rooms) rounded out the top five.