China's internet giants are ramping up land purchases in major cities, committing more than 15 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) since late last year in a strategic shift from asset-light leasing to owning property tied to core operations.

Companies including ByteDance and JD have led a fresh wave of land purchases in hubs such as Beijing and Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, signaling a deeper transformation in how China's tech sector manages capital and growth.

The new buying spree is not a traditional real estate play but reflects a broader move toward heavy-asset ownership. Firms are increasingly seeking to anchor research, data and headquarters functions in self-owned facilities, aligning with long-term industrial strategies rather than short-term property gains, industry experts said.

JD has been among the most active. Last month, a unit of JD spent 1.76 billion yuan to acquire two parcels of land in Beijing E-Town, adjacent to its existing headquarters. The purchase came just one day after its other subsidiary paid 663 million yuan for a commercial site in Hangzhou.

In late 2025, JD secured land in Nanjing and acquired office space in Hong Kong's Central District for HK$3.47 billion ($442.9 million), underscoring a multi-city footprint built in rapid succession.

Other tech majors are following suit. Alibaba Group acquired office space in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay in October 2025 for HK$7.2 billion, while ByteDance has spent roughly 6.1 billion yuan this year alone on two prime sites in Beijing's Haidian district, a core technology hub.

The pace of investment has accelerated markedly since 2025, with purchases becoming more concentrated and strategic. Unlike earlier, scattered acquisitions of office buildings, the latest deals feature high self-use ratios, strong links to industrial activity and long-term operational horizons.

Yan Yuejin, deputy head of the E-House China R&D Institute in Shanghai, said: "This is about optimizing balance sheets and hedging against uncertainty. Holding high-quality real estate in core locations can provide stable asset appreciation, especially as property prices have adjusted."

The shift also reflects a redefinition of land use by tech firms. Rather than speculative holdings, companies are developing integrated campuses for research and development, digital industry parks and artificial intelligence computing centers — infrastructure viewed as critical to future growth, Yan said.

"Demand from internet companies — often linked to what policymakers called new quality productive forces — is emerging as a rare source of certainty, particularly in the commercial and R&D segments of major cities still grappling with a property slowdown," he added.

chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn