According to Lodging Econometrics’ (LE) Q1 2026 China Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report, China’s construction pipeline totaled 3,602 projects and 640,328 rooms at the close of the quarter.
Projects under construction dominated the pipeline at 2,572 projects and 451,156 rooms — representing 71% of the total by projects and 70% by rooms. The scheduled-to-start within the next 12 months stage of the pipeline reached 360 projects and 58,840 rooms, up 14% by projects and 6% by rooms year-over-year (YOY). The early planning stage grew to 670 projects and 130,332 rooms, up 5% by both projects and rooms YOY.
The upper midscale chain scale leads China’s pipeline with a record 1,249 projects with 183,534 rooms, up 8% by projects and 3% by rooms YOY, representing 35% of all projects in the total pipeline. Also reaching a new record project total at Q1, the upscale chain scale follows with 1,087 projects/223,180 rooms, up 4% by projects YOY. Together, these two leading chain scales account for 2,336 projects/406,714 rooms in China’s construction pipeline.
Conversion activity surged in Q1, as conversions hit a record-high project count, reflecting growing investor interest in the repositioning of existing assets. Construction starts totaled 188 projects and 30,539 rooms for the quarter, while new project announcements accelerated to 234 projects and 35,377 rooms, up 21% by projects and 9% by rooms YOY.
Activity in China is concentrated within a few cities. Chengdu leads China’s pipeline with 130 projects/23,545 rooms. Guangzhou follows with 125 projects/25,500 rooms. Next is Shanghai with 111 projects/20,973 rooms, then Hangzhou with 96 projects/18,364 rooms, and Xi’an with 82 projects/14,511 rooms.
During the first quarter, 287 new hotels/37,449 rooms opened in China, with an additional 824 new hotels/125,758 rooms forecast to open in Q2-Q4. LE analysts forecast a total of 1,111 new hotels/163,207 rooms to open by year-end, while 861 new hotels/144,061 rooms are forecast to open in 2027.