CEO SUITE opens its fifth centre in Asia this November, its first centre in China, and while the Management already has its eyes set on the other developing cities in this nation of 1.2 billion inhabitants, the first CEO SUITE in China is etched in history to be sitting in the country's most advanced city, and in one of the world's biggest economic powerhouses - Shanghai.

"The concept of an Instant Office is still relatively new in China, and we believe there is a whole lot of potential and prospects in this business venture in this exciting city", said Mee Kim, who is both the president and founder of CEO SUITE.

The first two CEO SUITE centers were launched in Jakarta in 1997, the first in the Jakarta Stock Exchange Building, and the second at Wisma GKBI. Expansion plans into Kuala Lumpur and Singapore were quick to follow with CEO SUITE opening in Kuala Lumpur in 2001, and Singapore the following year in 2002.

"We started operation on over 1,950 sq m of space in Shanghai last month, and have quite immediately filled up 20% of the available space to rent" she explained.

Her management remains optimistic that within the next 6 months, occupancy rate will reach 90% to 100% due to the increasing demand for this popular, yet exclusive instant office service.

The increasing number of foreign investors into Shanghai, and their requirement for ready-to-use office suites of international standard is a main contributor to the high level of demand. Twelve months into market analysis and research, Mee Kim is finally convinced of enough demand to warrant a CEO SUITE, at the fourth tallest building - the Hong Kong New World Tower in Shanghai, to fulfill and cater to the pent-up demand for such ready-to-occupy, yet of international prestige offices.

"There has also been demand from our existing clients for CEO SUITE centers to be in Bangkok, Seoul and Vietnam, but our current focus and priority has to be on the development of Shanghai," reinforced Mee Kim, who believes in progress, sure but steady.

"With our center in Shanghai as the pivot point of business in China, we are hoping for our expansion plans to also include Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the next few years," shares Mee Kim.

Mee Kim however admits that some constraints include the lack of qualified human resources fluent in English to cater to the huge influx of foreign investors coming into China. In addition, the cost of rental in Shanghai is nearly three times higher than that in Jakarta!