Emergency services in Shanghai and Jiangsu Province in east China have intensified relief efforts to support residents in tiding over the turmoil caused by Typhoon Bebinca.
Bebinca, the 13th typhoon of this year, made landfall in Shanghai at about 07:30 Monday, according to the Shanghai central meteorological observatory.
At landfall, the maximum wind speed near the eye of the storm reached approximately 42 meters per second.
Bebinca, believed to be the strongest typhoon to hit Shanghai in a span of 75 years, has unleashed gales and torrential rain in the city.
Braving the ferocious storm, a heartwarming scene unfolded in Xuhui District of the city. As strong gusts and driving rain blew parcels from a delivery scooter all over the ground, the delivery worker struggled against the storm, desperately trying to gather the scattered items.
A passing police car stopped to help, with officers loading the parcels onto their vehicle and delivering them to the designated parcel station.
As Bebinca progressed into the neighboring Jiangsu Province on Monday, cities across the region experienced winds exceeding level 10, prompting immediate action from emergency services, including the fire departments and power utilities, to ensure public safety.
Firefighters in Yangzhou City in central Jiangsu, quickly sprang into action after receiving calls for help. They have been working tirelessly to remove objects at risk of falling from heights and clear fallen trees to reduce potential hazards.
Meanwhile, a 10-kilovolt power line in the city was damaged by the severe weather, causing widespread outages. Power repair crews braved the elements and, after over an hour of tough slog, they successfully restored electricity to the affected areas.
China's National Meteorological Center has forecast heavy to torrential rains in northern Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui, southern Jiangsu, and Henan from Tuesday to Wednesday due to the impact of Bebinca.
East China cities make tough slog to mitigate devastation from Typhoon Bebinca
Shanghai experienced a significant recovery in rental demand for commercial office buildings in the fourth quarter of 2025.
A landmark project in the heart of Shanghai, the Pacific Xintiandi Commercial Center spans some 390,000 square meters and features three commercial office buildings. Situated in one of the city's busiest commercial districts, the project has already achieved over 60 percent occupancy, primarily attracting leading and renowned international companies.
"Because the Huangpu District is a core CBD area. So, it's not like one or two single industries we are focusing [on]. Instead, we have a lot of top-tier companies from different industries," said Bruce Dai, deputy general manager of the office business management with Shui On Xintiandi.
Data from real estate consultancy Knight Frank show that 63 percent of the firms renting offices in Shanghai in the fourth quarter of 2025 were domestic firms, up four percentage points from a year earlier. However, in core areas like Xintiandi, international companies remain a major renting force.
"The completion of the office part was in 2024. We only took one and half a year to lease out the whole three office buildings with an 65 (-percent)-average occupancy rate. So I think we are doing pretty well facing the challenging market," Dai said.
Shanghai's office building market has indeed been challenging. The city's net absorption in Grade-A office buildings, which refers to net change in occupied space, dropped by nearly 11 percent in 2025 from a year earlier. Net absorption recovered in the fourth quarter of 2025, jumping by 9.3 percent quarter on quarter.
"We think this is an early sign showing the market recovery backed by the resilience of the Chinese economy. So if you look at the supply side, the last quarter's new supply recorded at 216,000 square meters, it was also up by 55 percent. So it pushed up the vacancy rate by 0.5 percent and reach to a historic high at 23.8 percent. This marginal improvement is actually showing the tenant demand is beginning to stabilize," said Virginia Huang, managing director of North and East China, Knight Frank.
Shanghai sees increase in rental demand for commercial office space
