Most overseas developers arrive at a Chinese roadshow with a brochure and a price list. That is enough to be seen, not enough to be chosen. These twelve items are what the projects that convert have ready — and what the ones that do not, do not.
A Chinese buyer in 2026 is not comparing your project to the one next door. They are comparing it to the idea of not buying at all.
Not a price and a payment schedule — a full annual picture: property tax, service charge, insurance, management, expected vacancy. Chinese buyers now ask this in the first meeting, not the third. A developer who cannot answer it is assumed to be hiding something, whether or not they are.
When the building completes, what happens if it does not, and who is legally responsible. Off-plan is understood and accepted; unguaranteed off-plan is not. Bank guarantees, escrow arrangements or a parent-company undertaking all work — saying "we always deliver" does not.
Which nationality can buy what, in which area, under which programme. In Malta this is the difference between an SDA and a permit; in Greece it is the threshold by region; in Thailand it is freehold versus leasehold. Getting this wrong wastes everyone's time in the room.
Purchase tax, annual tax, capital gains on sale, and the cost of repatriating the proceeds. The question Chinese buyers ask most since 2024 is not "how much will it rise" but "how do I get out". A project that cannot answer the exit question is now the exception, not the rule.
Gross rent, net rent after all deductions, and the vacancy rate of the building or the area. Not the developer's projection — comparable actuals, ideally with the source named. Buyers in Shanghai and Shenzhen have become unusually good at spotting a gross-yield slide with no deductions on it.
Area measured in square metres the way Chinese buyers read it, payment stages explained in terms they already use, floor plans that label orientation. Machine translation is spotted within two lines and costs you credibility before you speak.
Chinese buyers need to know which currency, which route, which documents, and roughly how long. You do not need to advise on it — that is the buyer's side — but the project must be clear about what it requires at reservation and at completion.
Whether buying first or applying first is better, and why. Almost every family asks it. A developer who can explain the sequence credibly signals that they have done this before; one who cannot is treated as a seller, not an advisor.
A named contact who answers within 24 hours, in Chinese, on WeChat. An info@ address that replies in three days loses the buyer in the gap between interest and decision — which is exactly where most Chinese purchases are lost.
Chinese buyers are not short of options; they are short of reasons. What the buyer cannot get elsewhere — a payment structure, a rental programme, a resale commitment, an introduction — matters more than a discount.
A 50–80 seat private salon and a booth at a 20,000-visitor expo do different jobs. The expo creates awareness at scale; the salon creates decisions at depth. Most developers buy the first and expect the second, then conclude China does not work.
Chinese purchase decisions are family decisions, and family decisions take months. The follow-up — who contacts whom, in what order, with what material, at what interval — should be written before the event, not improvised after it. Interest decays fastest in the first 48 hours.
A project with all twelve can be presented in a Chinese room and survive the questions. A project with six will be seen, liked, and not chosen — which is the most common outcome, and the least discussed.
If you want to check where your project stands, we will go through these twelve with you before any conversation about slots or fees.
CORNERSTONE