CHINA RES LAND accelerates cashing out, with a base price of 2.1 billion to auction the Vientiane series assets again

"Sing Tao Global Network" Trainee Reporter Huang Dongyan Reports from Guangzhou

Under liquidity pressure, China Resources Land is accelerating asset monetization. On November 30, while the first collection of 13 billion yuan from the luxury residential project in Shenzhen Bay by China Resources Land sparked market discussions, two subsidiaries of the Vientiane series commercial operations located in Guiyang and Xi'an were quietly put up for auction by China Resources Land, with a total listing price of approximately 2.078 billion yuan.

Despite holding hundreds of billions in cash, under the pressure of over 280 billion yuan in debt, even the state-owned enterprise China Resources Land has to emphasize "cash is king" in its strategic positioning.

With the advancement of the strategy of "adjusting structure, adjusting rhythm, and adjusting layout" in recent years, China Resources Land has gradually increased its efforts to adjust the operational model of commercial assets and the product structure of development and sales businesses, hoping to improve its financial structure through this.

Assets Can Be Sold, Management Rights Cannot Be Sold

According to information from the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange website, on November 30, 100% equity of China Resources Land (Xi'an) Commercial Property Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Resources Xi'an") and 100% equity of China Resources Land (Guiyang) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Resources Guiyang") were listed for transfer, with a transfer base price of approximately 970 million yuan and 1.108 billion yuan, respectively, with a deadline of December 26, 2025.

Both companies are the operating entities of commercial asset projects under China Resources Land. Among them, China Resources Xi'an was established in 2012, with assets including Xi'an West Xian Vientiane City and China Resources International Plaza, involving commercial real estate operations and office property leasing, etc.

From the financial data, in the first three quarters of 2025, China Resources Xi'an's revenue was approximately 198 million yuan, and net profit was approximately 2.2953 million yuan. The asset appraisal report shows that as of the end of June 2025, China Resources Xi'an's total assets were approximately 1.497 billion yuan, total liabilities were approximately 991 million yuan, net assets were approximately 506 million yuan, and the overall appraisal value was approximately 885 million yuan, which represents a premium of about 9.6% based on the listing price of 970 million yuan.

Established in 2014, China Resources Guiyang owns China Resources Land Guiyang Vientiane Hui. As of August 31, 2025, China Resources Guiyang's revenue for the year was approximately 129 million yuan, and net profit was approximately 112 million yuan. According to the asset appraisal value, during the same period, the company's total assets were approximately 1.176 billion yuan, total liabilities were approximately 1.113 billion yuan, net assets were approximately 63 million yuan, and the overall appraisal value was approximately 970 million yuan. China Resources Guiyang's listing base price of 1.108 billion yuan represents a premium of 14.23% over the appraisal value.

It is worth noting that in the transaction conditions, both subsidiaries require a one-time payment, and the transferee must accept and acknowledge all contents of the "Operational Management Service Agreement" signed by the two target companies and agree to continue to perform the relevant agreement contents without participating in the property asset operations of the target enterprises during the performance period.

In other words, after the equity transfer, although China Resources Land will no longer own the property rights of the two commercial projects, the future operational management rights of the projects will still belong to China Resources Land, only the model has shifted from heavy asset operation to light asset management, thus achieving both asset exit and monetization while ensuring a continuous business cash flow in the future

Lightweight Business Operations

From the actions of China Resources Land in recent years, the strategic shift from "heavy" assets to "light" assets has already begun, especially in the context of industry cycle adjustments and increasing corporate debt and cash flow pressures. This state-owned enterprise's transformation of its operational business has clearly accelerated.

On one hand, China Resources Land has been securitizing its commercial real estate projects. Media statistics show that since 2022, China Resources Land has issued at least 16 billion in CMBS (Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities) based on commercial projects in Chengdu, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Beijing, and other locations. Additionally, it has registered issuance quotas for class REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust) exceeding 10 billion.

On the other hand, it has achieved a light asset transformation by transferring equity in commercial real estate projects while retaining long-term operational management rights. From 2023 to date, China Resources Land has successively listed for transfer the equity of several mature projects, such as Hangzhou Xiaoshan MixC, Beijing Qinghe MixC, and Hefei MixC, with prices ranging from 1.9 billion to 4 billion, and has basically achieved premium sales.

Including the upcoming transfers of the Xi'an and Guiyang projects, China Resources Land has recouped over 10 billion in funds in recent years through the method of transferring asset ownership while binding operational rights.

At the 2025 semi-annual performance meeting, Li Xin, Chairman of the Board of China Resources Land, stated that operational real estate and asset management businesses serve as new engines for performance growth, and their pull effect on the company's performance and long-term stable cash flow is becoming increasingly significant.

It is reported that China Resources Land's operational real estate business includes shopping centers, office buildings, hotels, and other rental operations. In the first half of this year, China Resources Land's recurring business revenue was 20.56 billion, a year-on-year increase of only 2.5%, but it accounted for 21.7% of total revenue, with a gross profit margin of 72.9%, and its contribution to core net profit increased to 60.2%.

Among them, the revenue from operational real estate business grew by 5.5% year-on-year to 12.11 billion, while the light asset management business saw a slight increase of 1.1% year-on-year to 6 billion. As of the first half of 2025, China Resources Land had 94 operating shopping centers, with total retail sales during the period reaching 110.1 billion.

According to "Sing Tao," some investors previously "complained" that China Resources Land invested a large amount of cost to expand its operational real estate business, but relied solely on rental income and management income from MixC for cash flow, resulting in a lengthy investment return cycle, making it difficult to ensure shareholder equity. However, through asset securitization and the sale of mature commercial assets, China Resources Land is undoubtedly accelerating its transformation towards a model focused on light asset operational management.

New Housing Development "Luxury-oriented"

Under the overall strategic shift of "adjusting structure, adjusting pace, and adjusting layout," the structure of China Resources Land's commercial assets is gradually moving towards a "combination of light and heavy," while the development and sales business, which forms the basic performance foundation, is also accelerating product structure adjustments, seeking breakthroughs in high-end markets According to "Sing Tao," this year, China Resources Land has launched a nationwide research initiative focused on the product trends catering to high-net-worth individuals, and highlighted its luxury residential product development strategy at the 2025 strategic new product launch conference in Shanghai in mid-October.

In the first half of this year, China Resources Land added 1.48 million square meters of land reserves and saleable inventory, with nearly 90% located in first- and second-tier cities. With the investment focus shifting towards core areas of first- and second-tier cities over the past two years, the proportion of high-end projects in China Resources Land's portfolio has gradually increased, targeting high-net-worth individuals with greater purchasing power during the industry's downturn.

Since the second half of this year, multiple luxury residential projects by China Resources Land in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, and Shenzhen have been launched.

On November 29 and 30, China Resources Land's luxury projects "Lunqi Binjiang" in Shanghai and "Shenzhen Bay Lunxi" in Shenzhen were launched sequentially, with the latter achieving a sales figure of 13 billion yuan, setting a record for the highest sales on the first launch of a single project nationwide in 2025.

It is worth mentioning that these two projects attracted industry attention due to their high land prices at the time of acquisition. The Shanghai "Lunqi Binjiang" was jointly acquired by China Resources Land and Shanghai Nan Fang Group for a total price of 24.47 billion yuan in July this year, setting a record for the highest single land acquisition price nationwide in 2025. The "Shenzhen Bay Lunxi" project site was jointly won by China Resources Land and China Overseas Property, with a total transaction price of 18.5 billion yuan, also breaking the historical record for total transaction price of residential land in Shenzhen at that time, becoming the most expensive land sold in the country in 2024.

As of the end of November 2025, China Resources Land has established over ten benchmark luxury residential projects nationwide. However, amid the deep adjustment in the real estate market, an increasing number of real estate companies are beginning to target high-net-worth individuals, similar to China Resources Land.

For instance, the Shenzhen Bay area, where the "Shenzhen Bay Lunxi" project recently made headlines with its initial sales of 13 billion yuan, also features several similar luxury projects such as CITIC Xinyue Bay, Lian Tai Chaozong Bay, and Houhai China Merchants Xi, which are entering the sales phase one after another, leading to particularly fierce market competition.

Latest data shows that from January to October 2025, China Resources Land's cumulative contract sales amount declined by 16.6% to 169.6 billion yuan, with a total contract sales area of approximately 6.41 million square meters, a year-on-year decrease of 27.4%. Additionally, recurring income was approximately 41.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%, of which rental income from operational real estate business was about 27.1 billion yuan, an annual increase of 13%.

In this context of fluctuating business conditions, whether the adjustment of the commercial and development sales product structure can bring new growth logic to China Resources Land and improve its financial structure remains to be seen