China’s first batch of four commercial real estate investment trusts (REITs) has listed on the SSE on 18 June 2026, with Han Kun Law Offices, King & Wood, Haiwen & Partners and Jingtian & Gongcheng advising on them.
In a press release, the SSE said: “The commercial REITs market holds a promising outlook. China’s vast stock of existing commercial real estate provides a solid foundation for the market’s continued expansion and quality enhancement.”
Following the launch of the public REITs pilot programme in 2020, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the Announcement of Launching the Pilot Programme for Commercial Real Estate REITs at the end of 2025. This formally included commercial properties such as office buildings and retail assets within the scope of publicly offered REITs. The notice also introduced systematic optimisations in areas, including sponsor eligibility, review efficiency and management responsibilities.
The first four commercial REITs comprise CUAM Shanghai Real Estate Commercial REIT, CSC Financial Shounong Food Group Commercial REIT, Guotai Haitong Sasseur Commercial REIT and CICC Vipshop Commercial REIT. The underlying assets include office buildings and shopping mall projects located in Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, Zhengzhou and Harbin.
Han Kun counselled parties involved in the CSC Financial Shounong, Guotai Haitong Sasseur and CICC Vipshop REITs. All three were led by partner Fang Rong, with partners Nie Xiaodi and Li Xiao participating in the CSC Financial Shounong and Guotai Haitong Sasseur projects, respectively.
King & Wood advised on the CUAM Shanghai Real Estate Commercial REIT, with Hu Zhe, Chen Fushen and Qian Bei serving as lead partners.
Haiwen & Partners provided strategic placement investor verification and witnessing services for the listing and offering of the CICC Vipshop Commercial REIT, led by partner Wang Yao. Jingtian & Gongcheng issued a special legal opinion on strategic investor verification for the Guotai Haitong Sasseur Commercial REIT.
To date, 21 commercial REITs have been accepted nationwide, with total proposed fundraising exceeding RMB60 billion (USD8.86 billion), of which 16 have been accepted by the SSE.
