As seen in the most recent Construction Pipeline Trend Report for China from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the country’s pipeline stands at 3,666 projects/678,965 rooms. At the close of the second quarter, the total pipeline is slightly less than the all-time high of 3,711 projects/704,101 rooms set in the second quarter of 2022.

Projects in the under construction stage in China rose slightly year-over-year (YOY), closing the quarter at 2,655 projects/478,703 rooms.

Development activity at Q2 was most active within the mid-level chain scales, where upscale and upper midscale projects hit record-high project counts of 813 projects/192,891 rooms and 1,137 projects/182,478 rooms, respectively. Brand conversions and large scale renovations combined reached a new record-high, to close the quarter at 156 projects/28,633 rooms.

Chengdu continues to top the list of cities in China with the largest number of projects in the pipeline with 140 projects/27,890 rooms. Shanghai follows with 117 projects/22,887 rooms. Next is Guangzhou with 106 projects/21,869 rooms, Hangzhou with 92 projects/18,927 rooms, and Xi’an with 91 projects/16,603 rooms.

Franchise companies topping China’s construction pipeline are Hilton Worldwide with a record number of projects and rooms at 716 projects/127,106 rooms. Next is IHG Hotels & Resorts with 466 projects/97,468 rooms and Marriott International with 369 projects/95,665 rooms. Accor follows with all-time highs of 236 projects/39,367 rooms and then JinJiang Holding with 154 projects/15,355 rooms. These five companies make up an impressive 53% of projects and 55% of rooms in China’s total hotel construction pipeline.