On February 25, the GBA REIT Development Forum kicked off at SZSE, with the theme of “REITs Gather Momentum to Boost Industry Development”. This is another practical measure taken by SZSE to further advance the pilot program on public-offered infrastructure REITs and actively serve GBA and the pilot demonstration zone of socialism with Chinese characteristics following the practice discussion of public-offered infrastructure REITs in last August. This will further forge consensus on development, facilitate the formation of market synergy and push forward the pilot program on public-offered infrastructure REITs in a sustainable way.

The meeting was held on the spot with video links provided for sub-venues in strict accordance with COVID-19 prevention and control requirements. Li Chao, Vice Chairman of CSRC and Gao Gao, Deputy Secretary General of the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) delivered speeches via video links. Ai Xuefeng, Vice Mayor of Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, addressed the forum. The heads of Department of Fixed Asset Investment of the NDRC, the Department of Corporate Bond Supervision of the CSRC, and SZSE delivered keynote speeches. Other attendees included the heads of relevant departments of state organs (such as the NDRC, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, State Taxation Administration, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the CSRC) and of relevant departments of Shenzhen municipal and district governments, leadership of SZSE and overseas stock exchanges, personnel from industry associations and financial institutions, enterprise representatives, experts, scholars and media journalists participated in person or online.

Vice Chairman Li Chao believed that the pilot program on public-offered infrastructure REITs will help deepen financial supply-side reform, improve the capability of capital market to serve the real economy, increase equity financing proportion and expand the channels for non-governmental investment. He hoped that the parties concerned will build consensus and make concerted efforts to push forward the pilot program, and promptly take stock of experience to refine the legal system and relevant systems and promote the institutional and standardized development of the REIT market. With good infrastructure basis, GBA and the pilot demonstration zone should play a leading role, accelerate REIT market development and form the experience that can be copied, promoted and referred to. The effective combination of REITs and national innovation-driven strategy should be explored to help foster new drivers of economic growth, give full play to the role of infrastructure REITs in revitalizing existing investment and providing new funds, speed up the arrangement and development of strategic emerging industries and cultivate future industries.

Deputy Secretary General Gao Gao emphasized that as a useful exploration in refining the infrastructure investment/financing mechanism, the infrastructure REITs are an important way to perfect the endogenous growth mechanism for investment. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, to facilitate investment and development, it is vital to continue to pursue high-quality development and endeavor to increase investment quality and effect. Ongoing efforts shall be made to foster a new development paradigm through services, pursue the basic goal of expanding domestic demand, quicken steps to shore up weak spots in areas of infrastructure, municipal engineering, agriculture, rural areas, ecology, environmental protection and supporting people’s livelihood, and bring the key role of investment in optimizing supply structure into full play. A market-oriented endogenous growth mechanism for investment shall be formed with reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force. All parties should work together to make the most of the leading role of GBA and the pilot demonstration zone of Shenzhen and give full play to new-type investment/financing models, thereby boosting the building of GBA and the high-quality economic development of Shenzhen.

A responsible person from SZSE indicated that with high attention paid to REIT study and innovation, SZSE has fostered a featured privately placed REIT sector initially, which is the largest one in China in terms of scale covering various types of real estate with strong market leading effect and diverse investors, thus creating a sound ecosystem for the pilot program on public-offered infrastructure REITs. At present, the first pilot program on publicly offered REITs has been officially launched. Centering on relevant requirements for capital market reform and the building of the pilot demonstration zone, SZSE will make solid efforts in project review, offering, listing and regulation in line with the principles of being “open-minded, transparent, honest and strict” and the concepts of “market first and service based”. Based on the experienced cumulated in the pilot program, SZSE will also explore new development paths, cooperate with other parties to ensure a good start of the pilot program, and make Shenzhen the nationwide industry cluster of publicly-offered infrastructure REITs and the publicly-offered REITs the mainstream financial product in China’s capital market.

At the forum, attendees exchanged views on the development path, supporting policy, overseas experience and innovative practice of publicly-offered REITs from different angles of market regulation, academic research and corporate operation. In the forum, participating experts had in-depth discussion of specific problems in infrastructure practice and put forward viable opinions and suggestions.