[2] Many malls in North America are considered "dead" (for the purposes of leasing) when they have no surviving anchor store or successor that could attract people to the mall. Does anyone know what the deal is with the huge, newly empty malls that seem to be spreading around China? However there have later been contradictions to this property bubble theory as for example, CNN in 2015 also cites The New South China Mall in Dongguan, the biggest shopping mall in the world, was virtually empty for over a decade and that its owners were determined to make the mall full occupancy again. China may be the world’s largest market for luxury goods, but the bulk of purchases are still made on trips abroad – where products are up to 40 per cent cheaper Nanjing Golden Eagle World (金鹰世界) has been described as Asia’s largest shopping mall. The biggest mall in the world is empty: the South China Mall August 17, 2017 Petar Djajkovski Although New South China Mall is the biggest mall in the world, it stands almost entirely vacant. China may be the world’s largest market for luxury goods, but the bulk of purchases are still made on trips abroad – where products are up to 40 per cent cheaper Meet the world’s largest shopping mall, the New South China Mall in Dongguan, China. A dead mall, or ghost mall, or simply abandoned mall is a shopping mall with a high vacancy rate or a low consumer traffic level, or that is dated or deteriorating in some manner. Located about 50 miles north of Hong Kong in Dongguan, China, the New South China Mall is the largest abandoned mall in the world by gross leasable area. The seven biggest malls are all in Asia, with four of them in China. China's building boom has created a ton of abandoned cities and massive ruins — most of which are brand new, and have never had people living in them. Twice the size of United States’ Mall of America , it was opened with room for 2,350 stores in 7.1 million square feet of leasable space. I'm talking about malls in the city center that had tenants but are now almost entirely empty. Take a tour of the New South China Mall > The mall was opened in 2005 and was heralded as the largest shopping center in the world with 659,612 square meters (7,100,000 sq ft) of space. Owners of the New South China Mall in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan had high hopes when it first opened in 2005, but those hopes were soon dashed when it remained virtually empty for more than ten years. I'm not talking about 88th Ring developments that were never leased. Photo courtesy: www.netge.com The seven biggest malls are all in Asia, with four of them in China. It is twice as big as the huge Mall of America outside Minneapolis. For a decade, the New South China Mall -- the biggest shopping mall in the world -- has been an embarrassment for its owners and China. Take a tour of the New South China Mall > The mall was opened in 2005 and was heralded as the largest shopping centre in the world with 659,612 square meters (7,100,000 sq ft) of space.