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Chinese regulators have urged a faster and wider rollout of public REITs to address the growing liquidity strain on developers and to meet the rising demand for yield among investors. Senior officials from the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a recent article that commercial assets including hotels, office buildings and stadiums should be brought under the REIT framework soon, following the CSRC’s release of draft rules for a pilot programme last week. They highlighted that China’s REIT market, valued at about 220 billion yuan (approximately USD31.12 billion), has significant room for long-term expansion.
Officials from China’s securities regulator have called for a quicker expansion of the public REIT market to ease liquidity pressures in the property sector and to cater to growing investor appetite for secure returns. The remarks were made by two senior members of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Han Zhuo and Jiang Jie, through an article published in Shanghai Securities News. Advertisement
They noted that China should begin allowing commercial properties to be listed as REITs at the earliest possible stage to support a more sustainable growth model for developers. The officials stated that authorities must focus on increasing the supply of quality projects while reducing both the time taken and the costs involved in issuing REITs.
Their comments followed the CSRC’s release of draft rules for a pilot commercial REIT scheme last week, which proposed allowing a broader set of assets such as hotels, office towers and sports venues to be included. At present, Chinese REITs mainly consist of infrastructure-related assets including industrial parks, highways, logistics facilities and data centres.
The push comes at a time when the property sector continues to face financial strain, with major developer Vanke seeking extensions on payments for two bonds as the market remains weak. According to the officials, bringing commercial REITs into operation would help lighten developers’ debt loads and support stability in property-market expectations.
China’s REIT market has a current market capitalisation of around 220 billion yuan, equal to roughly USD31.12 billion. Estimates referenced by the officials suggest that the sector could grow significantly and potentially reach 7.5 trillion yuan over time. They added that REITs play an important role by converting idle assets into standardised, tradable securities, helping improve pricing transparency while freeing capital for further investment.
The officials also pointed out that demand for REITs has risen quickly as risk-free interest rates in China continue to decline, making yield-generating products more attractive to investors.
Source Reuters
5th Jun, 2025
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