Commercial real estate REITs application process accelerates, with feedback completed in less than twenty-nine days on average

News Reporter Wang Rui

Information from the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges shows that as of March 18, a total of 11 public asset management institutions have submitted registration applications for 15 commercial real estate REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts). Aside from three new applications in March, the other 12 are already in the feedback or inquiry stage.

By the end of 2025, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the “Announcement on Launching Pilot Programs for Commercial Real Estate Investment Trusts.” In just two and a half months, the number of commercial real estate REIT applications has reached 15, with an estimated total fundraising of over 46 billion yuan, and an average per-product fundraising scale of about 3.071 billion yuan.

From the submitted products, six are expected to raise over 4 billion yuan. Among them, the China International Capital Corporation (CICC) Vipshop closed-end commercial real estate securities investment fund is expected to raise 7.47 billion yuan, the highest scale; Guotai Haitong Sandship closed-end commercial real estate securities investment fund and Everbright Prudential Everbright Anshi closed-end commercial real estate securities investment fund are expected to raise 5.064 billion yuan and 4.905 billion yuan, respectively.

According to multiple securities firms’ asset management teams, in the current low-interest-rate market environment, REITs have become an important tool for public asset management institutions to expand their non-cash management scale. Based on a single product scale of 3 billion yuan, the launch of three to four products could break through 100 billion yuan; combined with the long-term growth prospects of existing assets, there is broad room for future expansion.

Regarding the commercial real estate REIT projects already filed, the underlying assets are mainly located in first-tier cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, as well as key second-tier cities with strong development momentum like Hefei and Xi’an. The pilot scope covers traditional commercial real estate types such as commercial complexes, retail properties, office buildings, and hotels. The original equity holders include both state-owned and private enterprises, with diversified sources of assets.

Peng Wenyu, an analyst at Shenwan Hongyuan, stated that compared to infrastructure REITs, commercial real estate REITs have highly market-oriented asset types, more diverse issuing entities (including private, foreign, and real estate companies), a more streamlined and efficient approval process, higher asset performance elasticity, and potentially stronger market characteristics. With the launch of commercial real estate REITs, the public REITs market asset structure will become more diverse, valuation ecosystems are expected to be reconstructed, market capacity will further expand, and a trillion-yuan blue ocean is anticipated.

It is noteworthy that the 12 products mentioned above received feedback on average within 28.5 days. Among them, Huatai Zijin Huazhu Anzhu REITs was completed in just 22 days after acceptance, indicating that regulatory authorities are highly efficient in reviewing and responding to commercial real estate REITs.

Liao Zhiming, Chief Fixed Income Analyst at Huayuan Securities, and his team believe that based on current feedback, regulatory focus mainly centers on four areas: real estate compliance, such as complete procedures, land use compliance, and operational qualifications; asset integrity, including the scope of assets in the pool and shared assets; project income, requiring disclosure of operational models and competitiveness, as well as risks like lease expirations and related-party transactions; and valuation reasonableness, requiring careful assessment of long-term growth rates and occupancy rates during the forecast period.

In fact, besides the exchanges accelerating the landing of the first batch of projects, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and local CSRC bureaus are also actively holding training sessions to guide enterprises, financial institutions, and government departments to seize new opportunities in the development of commercial real estate REITs. On March 13, the CSRC announced the recruitment of postdoctoral researchers for 2026, specifically listing “Research on the Construction of REITs Market System” as a key research direction.

Also on March 13, the Sichuan Securities Regulatory Bureau stated that it recently co-hosted the “Sichuan Province Commercial Real Estate REITs Pilot Promotion Work Conference” with the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges and the Provincial Financial Office. The meeting aimed to review assets, promote the phased cultivation and application of commercial real estate REITs projects, and address difficulties and pain points raised by enterprises with targeted solutions.

(Edited by: Wen Jing)

Keywords: REITs