New apartments target the urban young and the entrepreneurial

Tenants exercise in the gym at YOU+ International Youth Apartment in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on November 30, 2014. [Photo/CFP]

The community is also an industrial incubator where private companies could be registered.

Many of Liu's renters start their own business at the community. Some of them are busy day and night. "They do not need to jam into the subway and go to the office to the other side of the city," Liu explained.

Wei Jialin, 26, used to live at the You+ community in 2015. She said that the biggest difference between a private apartment and the youth community is being able to make friends.

"I don't want to sit in front of the computer all day and night," she said. "It's not what young people should be doing."

Wei works on an overseas study program service now. She met her boss and colleagues at the same youth community. "Most are outstanding entrepreneurs who helped my career a lot," Wei said.