In 2017, China’s investment in real estate development reached 11 trillion yuan (US $1.7 trillion), a 7% increase year-on-year. A significant chunk of this capital went into Tier 2 and 3 cities, which had seen stunning increases in population growth in recent decades. Soon, Tier 4 cities were also growing.

Against this backdrop, Country Garden, one of China’s largest real estate developers, achieved robust growth by meeting new housing demand in these locations. It did so by combining a rapid build-and-sell model with an employee risk- and profit-sharing scheme that made the company one of the fastest builders in China. (This report in Chinese.)