by WANG Yuhan

2025 marked the fifth year since China launched publicly offered real estate investment trusts (REITs), and the market showed unprecedented momentum.

After five years of growth, China's REITs market has become the largest in Asia and the second largest globally. Data compiled by China Asset Management shows that 20 new products were launched during the year, alongside five expansion offerings, raising a combined 47.34 billion yuan. By the end of 2025, the number of listed onshore public REITs had reached 79, with total issuance size, including follow-on offerings, exceeding 210 billion yuan.

Property developers have emerged as core participants in this shift. In the primary market, the ChinaAMC–China Overseas Commercial REIT recorded an oversubscription multiple of more than 320 times, while the ChinaAMC China Resources Youchao REIT adopted an expansion model that allocated units to existing holders, achieving a subscription rate of 99.51%.

As China's property sector undergoes a deep adjustment marked by shrinking development activity and mounting cash flow pressure, REITs have opened a new channel for developers to unlock the value of existing assets.

"Public REITs help developers build a full-cycle model of investment, financing, management and exit, forming a closed loop from development and cultivation to listing, capital recovery and reinvestment. This fits perfectly with the transition demands of the stock-based era," LIU Shui, corporate research director at China Index Holdings, told Jiemian News.

Policy support has played a decisive role. In 2025, a series of measures were introduced to normalize issuance and broaden eligible asset classes. Early in the year, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice promoting regular issuance of infrastructure REITs, simplifying review procedures and formally ushering in a normalized phase.

On September 12, the NDRC released another policy document, widely known as Circular 782, following the earlier 1014 document in 2024. The new rules refined asset scope, expansion support, project screening and organizational safeguards. A further breakthrough came on December 1, when the NDRC published the 2025 version of the REITs industry scope list, expanding eligible sectors to 15.

Commercial office buildings, including super Grade A and Grade A towers, and urban renewal projects such as old districts and factory redevelopments were added as standalone categories. Consumer infrastructure was also broadened to include assets such as sports venues and four-star-and-above hotels.

In practice, Liu told Jiemian News that asset types have continued to diversify, with first-time deals in areas such as data centers and municipal heating. REITs now span 10 major sectors and 18 asset categories, while private companies including SF Express and Vipshop have successfully issued products.

Institutional reforms have also accelerated expansion. The minimum waiting period for follow-on offerings has been shortened from 12 months to six. XU Xixi, head of capital markets, north China and operations Director at JLL China, said this would both speed up asset recycling and push operators to improve management standards, as expansion assets must demonstrate stable cash flows and compliance.

Challenges remain. Liu noted that new asset types such as concession and revenue rights lack unified valuation standards, creating pricing discrepancies. Some expansion projects have also underperformed due to operational complexity and cross-regional management hurdles.

For developers, 2025 marked the year when public REITs shifted from an optional financing tool to a strategic necessity. Participation has broadened across ownership types, spanning central and local state-owned developers as well as foreign asset managers. China Resources Land has advanced REITs in both consumer infrastructure and rental housing, while Joy City’s Chengdu Joy City REIT reported average occupancy of 97.46% and a rent collection rate of 99.39% in the second half of the year.

The China AMC CapitaLand Commercial REIT, backed by global asset manager CapitaLand, has been widely seen as a milestone for foreign participation in China's public REITs market, while the China Universal Shanghai Real Estate Rental Housing REIT, sponsored by local state-owned Shanghai Land, became the country's first publicly offered REIT based on assets converted from commercial use to subsidized rental housing.

Asset choice has been highly concentrated. According to CRIC Research, as of October 21, 2025, seven of the 13 REITs launched or filed by developers were consumer infrastructure, while three were rental housing, together accounting for more than three quarters of the total.

Looking ahead, the formal launch of commercial property REIT pilots is set to further expand the market in 2026. On November 28, 2025, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced a pilot program that brought office buildings and hotels into the REITs framework.

Industry estimates from the China Real Estate Association put the capital value of China's physical assets at 150 to 200 trillion yuan, with narrowly defined commercial property accounting for 40 to 50 trillion yuan. China Merchants Fund has projected that even a conservative REIT penetration rate of 1% to 3% would imply a potential market of 400 billion to 1.5 trillion yuan, with total public REITs market capitalization possibly exceeding 500 billion yuan within four years.

Overall, 2026 is shaping up as a decisive year. Developers that adapt quickly to REITs rules, strengthen operational capabilities and assemble high-quality asset portfolios are likely to secure an advantage in the stock-driven era, while those clinging to traditional development models risk being sidelined.