Shui On Land Becomes First Chinese Developer Named to TIME's Impact List

Shui On Land has been named to TIME's inaugural World's Most Impactful Companies list for 2026, becoming the first and only Chinese real estate developer to receive the recognition. The list, produced by TIME in partnership with Statista, uses the Upright Project's Net Impact Model, a methodology drawing on more than 200 million scientific articles and public statistical databases from sources including the World Bank, WHO, OECD and IPCC, to quantitatively assess how companies' core business activities align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

 

The recognition centres on Shui On Land's Xintiandi communities, master-planned, mixed-use developments in Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing and Foshan that combine heritage preservation with urban regeneration. The company frames this approach as a direct response to the scale of the challenge cities represent globally, noting that urban areas house 45 percent of the world's population while accounting for an estimated 70 percent of global carbon emissions, making sustainable urban development a significant lever for broader climate progress.

 

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Shui On Land has been an early adopter of the Science Based Targets initiative and has implemented carbon-reduction measures spanning renewable electricity procurement and low-carbon building materials across its developments. Its flagship Shanghai Xintiandi property has run on 100 percent renewable electricity across all operating properties since July 2024. The company also partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council to launch what it describes as the industry's first "Deep Green Lease" for office spaces in China, a lease structure designed to engage tenants directly in emissions reduction across the broader community. Against a 2019 baseline, the company reports cutting Scope 1 and 2 carbon intensity by 57 percent and Scope 3 tenant carbon intensity by 32 percent in 2025.  

 

Vice Chairman Stephanie Lo described the TIME recognition as authoritative global validation of Shui On's approach to urban regeneration in China, framing the company's work around building resilient, culturally diverse communities balancing heritage, development needs and environmental sustainability. The company operates under a "5C Sustainability Strategy" spanning community, clean, culture, care and corporate governance, and holds a land bank of 7.2 million square metres across prime Chinese cities as of December 2025.