'Rooftop economy' latest consumption front

After the "night economy", the "rooftop economy" is now taking to the rooftops of shopping centers nationwide.

Rooftops and terraces are emerging as the latest frontiers for retailers in China, offering new ways to boost consumption and attract visitors.

Beijing's Dongcheng district has officially launched the Breeze Terrace Project, a coordinated effort to fuse cultural, commercial and tourism growth across the capital.

The initiative reflects a broader push by the country's commercial retail centers to diversify and extend retail spaces to stimulate consumption, linking communities.

The program, inaugurated at the 7th-floor terrace garden of Beijing APM Shopping Mall recently, will run through October, covering peak leisure periods including the May Day holiday, summer vacation and Mid-Autumn Festival/National Day.

The project integrates more than 100 terrace venues through a phased promotional strategy, leveraging partnerships across media, financial institutions, lifestyle platforms and the wider merchant supply chain.

Organizers said the initiative aims to drive experience upgrades through product innovation while fostering high-quality consumption through collective synergy.

The 2025 pilot of the Breeze Terrace Project drew more than 1 million residents and tourists, cementing the so-called "terrace economy" as a rising trend in Beijing's cultural consumption.

This year, the program expands with 75 new rooftop cultural tourism venues, spanning hotels, hutong cafes, bookstores, restaurants and cultural parks. Key highlights include a reading space at Librairie Peut-etre, Sugar Cafe Nanluoguxiang branch, Peace Hotel, and the Mandarin Oriental Qianmen.

Curated experiential offerings form a central part of the project. The classical music afternoon tea salon at Hilton Beijing Wangfujing features guzheng, a traditional Chinese zither, and pipa, a traditional lute, performances by emerging musicians.

At Beijing APM mall, activities such as Breeze Yoga and Sunset Concerts complement terrace tennis lessons, creating a multiage, multi-interest consumption ecosystem, organizers said.

Han Wei, deputy director of the Dongcheng district bureau of culture and tourism, said the program leverages terrace spaces "to link diverse industries", with the goal of building a "sky-high economic belt" that balances cultural depth with commercial vitality.

The launch coincides with steady retail growth in China. In the first quarter, total retail sales of consumer goods were up 2.4 percent year-on-year, accelerating 0.7 percentage point from the previous quarter.

Industry experts see structural transformation in China's retail sector as a key driver for initiatives like the Breeze Terrace Project. Speaking at the release of the 2026 Shopping Center and Retail Consumption Development Report last month, Cai Yun, vice-president of the China General Chamber of Commerce's shopping center branch, said that shopping centers in the country are evolving from traditional "goods-selling" spaces into lifestyle hubs, social destinations and experience-driven platforms, creating fertile ground for creative urban retail initiatives.

"The current window of opportunity allows shopping centers to evolve into urban hubs for culture, leisure and experience consumption," Cai said.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn