National Development and Reform Commission: Promote the regular submission of applications for infrastructure REITs.

Recently, the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission officially issued the "Regarding Further Enhancing the Work on Real Estate Investment Trust Funds in the Infrastructure Sector." REITs Notification on Normalizing the Declaration and Recommendation Work,” which introduces specific measures to further promote market expansion and scaling, enhance fundraising support, and strengthen project vetting, thereby boosting real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the infrastructure sector. REITs ) (hereinafter referred to as infrastructure) REITs High-quality development.

2020 This year, our country launched infrastructure. REITs Pilot program. 2024 Year 8 Starting from the month, infrastructure REITs Transitioning from pilot phase to normalized issuance. As of... 2025 Year 9 In the early part of the month, already on the market 73 Only infrastructure REITs Total issuance exceeds 1900 Hundreds of millions of yuan, covering asset types including toll roads, industrial parks, clean energy projects, and affordable rental housing, playing a crucial role in revitalizing existing assets and fostering a virtuous cycle of investment and financing.

Policy Background

Revitalize existing assets and expand effective investment.

Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Further Activating Existing Assets and Expanding Effective Investment (Guobanfa [ 2022 ] 19 The document(s) specify clear requirements for revitalizing existing assets and expanding effective investment. Infrastructure REITs As an important tool for revitalizing existing assets, conducting regular and standardized application and recommendation work is a crucial step in implementing relevant decisions and deployments.

The “Notice” further refines the requirements in two key areas: On the one hand, it calls for accelerating the submission of applications for mature asset types such as toll roads, clean energy projects, warehousing and logistics facilities, and affordable rental housing, while intensifying efforts to organize projects in potential asset categories with greater issuance opportunities, including heating supply, water conservancy, and data centers. On the other hand, it encourages proactive research and exploration of issuance pathways for new asset types, including railways, ports, ultra-high-voltage transmission lines, cultural and tourism projects, specialized markets, and elderly care facilities. At the same time, it actively supports private investment projects in their issuance and listing, as well as new acquisitions through additional fundraising, while ensuring high-quality and efficient project vetting and approval.

Highlights of the Notice

Innovative initiatives to boost market vitality.

Intensify efforts to expand and broaden the market.

The “Notice” explicitly calls for intensifying efforts to expand and broaden the market, emphasizing the priority of submitting high-quality projects that can drive major national strategies. It also encourages the submission of large-scale projects. In terms of mature asset types, the pace of project submissions for toll roads and similar assets will be accelerated; for asset types with significant untapped potential, greater efforts will be made to organize projects in areas such as heating supply and water conservancy. At the same time, we will actively explore issuance pathways for new asset types—such as railways, ports, and ultra-high-voltage power transmission—that currently lack any issuance cases. For example, we will promote public offerings in the cultural tourism sector. REITs Breaking the ice and supporting the issuance of private investment projects will help unleash the vitality of private investment.

Simplify the application process for expanded fundraising projects.

Infrastructure already on the market REITs Fully listed upon first public offering 6 One month later, you can apply to declare the newly acquired project. Once the provincial development and reform authorities and central enterprises have reviewed and confirmed that the project meets the requirements, the National Development and Reform Commission will directly accept the application, give it priority evaluation, and expedite its recommendation—greatly enhancing the efficiency. REITs the efficiency of capital operations.

Expand the scope of assets for the fundraising project.

Supported for already listed REITs Newly acquired projects in the same industry or related fields—provided that these newly acquired projects, in principle, belong to the same ownership category or operational revenue rights category as the initially issued projects—also support cross-regional integration of existing assets, which helps... REITs Achieve scale expansion and enhanced strength.

Further enhance the level of information management.

Online infrastructure REITs The project information system provides standardized, information-based management for the entire project application process, enabling queryable progress and traceable workflows, thereby making project applications more standardized and transparent.

Private investment enterprises have broader market issuance opportunities.

Provincial-level development and reform departments shall establish and improve infrastructure for the issuance of privately funded investment projects. REITs A specialized coordination service mechanism will provide proactive, front-end services, active coordination, and separate application procedures to help private investment projects complete the necessary compliance formalities for investment management and accelerate the resolution of challenges encountered during project development. This will encourage greater participation of private investment in infrastructure construction and offer private enterprises broader room for growth and development.

Already on the market REITs The asset scale of related enterprises will further expand.

Infrastructure already on the market REITs Raising funds through methods such as additional offerings to acquire high-quality assets, expanding the scope of newly acquired project assets, and supporting cross-regional integration of existing assets via additional offerings will benefit listed companies. REITs Enterprises are expanding their asset scale, enhancing their market influence, building a capital operations platform, and achieving sustainable development.

Development opportunities

Multiple parties benefit, and the outlook is promising.

Traditional enterprises have more opportunities to issue securities.

Companies with mature asset-type projects in areas such as toll roads, clean energy, warehousing and logistics, and affordable rental housing—as well as companies with large potential issuance opportunities in sectors like heating, water resources, and data centers—can issue... REITs Revitalize existing assets, recover funds for reinvestment or debt repayment, optimize the company’s asset-liability structure, and enhance the efficiency of capital utilization.

The path for exploring new asset classes is wider.

Enterprises in sectors such as railways, ports, ultra-high-voltage power transmission, communication towers, market-oriented rental housing, cultural tourism, and specialized markets will have more opportunities to explore issuance. REITs the path to opening up new financing channels for enterprise development.

Alleviate local fiscal pressures

Infrastructure REITs Its development can effectively revitalize existing local infrastructure assets, and the recovered funds can be reinvested in new infrastructure projects, thereby creating a positive cycle. “ Construction - Operation - Recycling - Rebuild ” the circulation of funds. This helps alleviate fiscal pressures on local governments, enhance their capacity to secure funding for infrastructure development, and promote high-quality development of local infrastructure, while also facilitating the transformation and upgrading of local economies.

The “Notice” is for infrastructure. REITs The development of the market has pointed the way forward and brought new opportunities. As various policies are implemented, infrastructure... REITs The market is poised for even more robust growth, providing strong support for China’s high-quality economic development.