China to expand REITs pilot program into more fields

China will expand the pilot scheme for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to cover more fields, a senior official said Thursday.

Efforts will be expedited to develop REITs products in new energy, water conservancy, new infrastructure, and other infrastructure fields, said Li Chao, deputy director with the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

China will accelerate the development of affordable rental housing projects in the REITs market, and mull expanding the REITs pilot program to cover market-oriented long-term rental and commercial real estate sectors, Li added.

The REITs products are financial tools to pool capital for developing real estate projects. China kicked off a public REITs pilot program in infrastructure in 2020.

By the end of November, a total of 24 infrastructure REITs products had been approved and 22 had been listed, raising more than 75 billion yuan (about 10.77 billion U.S. dollars), official data showed.