About half of co-working space provider WeWork China’s office in Parkview Place, Beijing, is occupied by sofas, bookshelves and a kitchen – space dedicated to communal activities. It can be used as a venue for events, and talks by authors and film directors, for example. WeWork provides shared office space for start-ups and freelancers all over the world. The “office salon” at the 4,000 square metre (43,000 sq ft) property in Beijing, the country’s capital, opened in September in collaboration with Douban – one of China’s most popular social media and review platforms – in a trial expected to expand...