CapitaLand is set to be first foreign firm to list China REIT
(Bloomberg) — Singapore’s CapitaLand Investment Ltd. received the green light from China to list malls in the country’s public real estate investment trust market, the first foreign investor to tap such fundraising.
The REIT, which will include two shopping malls in Guangzhou and Changsha, got approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to register for a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to a filing late August 27. CapitaLand expects to raise about 2.1 billion yuan ($294 million) from the listing.
China launched its REIT market in 2021 as a way to channel capital into large infrastructure projects in exchange for a relatively consistent flow of dividend income. It expanded the program to include shopping malls in 2023. Investors have been snapping up these funds this year, seeking higher returns as sovereign bond yields hover near record lows.
“This is set to be China’s first REIT issued by a foreign investor,” said Zhu Yuanwei, president of the China REITs Institute. “Other foreign asset managers could follow suit.”
Among Asia’s major markets, China REITs delivered the second-highest returns in the first half of 2025, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Kristy Hung and Monica Si wrote in a note in July. Valuations for the sector have also remained resilient compared with a drop of as much as 84% for developers’ bonds and stocks during the same period, the BI researchers said.
CapitaLand exposure
CapitaLand Investment is the listed investment manager arm of property conglomerate CapitaLand Group Pte, which is owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte. The investment firm has identified the REIT listing as a potential way to alleviate shareholder concern over its sizable exposure to China’s real estate downturn, which has been a major drag on its stock for years.
The two malls being seeded into the REIT are CapitaMall SKY , a Guangzhou mall jointly owned by CapitaLand Investment and CapitaLand’s private development arm, while CapitaMall Yuhuating in Changsha is owned by a China-focused Singapore-listed REIT that CapitaLand Investment backs.
The investment firm, together with CapitaLand Development and CapitaLand China Trust, will own at least 20% of the C-REIT’s shares.
“If I look at the transactions today, the ones that make more pricing sense have been in the C-REIT sector,” Gerry Chan, chief executive officer of CapitaLand China Trust’s manager, said on an earnings call in July. The C-REIT option, Chan said, had been the best one if you want to divest anything, as “private deals have been few and far between, especially for some of the tier-two cities.”
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