<p>The number of China Real Estate Investment Trusts (C-REIT) has doubled compared to Singapore Real Estate Investment Trusts (S-REIT) and is growing rapidly, increasingly competing with Singapore. However, industry respondents believe that Singapore, with its higher quality standards, will be able to maintain its advantage as the hub of global real estate investment trusts.</p>
<p>Lin Huizhang, President of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA) and Chairman of JL Family Office, along with several analysts, shared this view during an interview with Lianhe Zaobao.</p>
<p>Lin Huizhang recently discussed the development of the Chinese real estate investment trust market (hereinafter referred to as the Chinese market) at the APREA Singapore Conference, pointing out that the Chinese market is &#34;growing very rapidly,&#34; and compared it to Singapore.</p>
<p>He stated that Singapore's real estate investment trusts are a hub for global real estate investment trusts, attracting trusts from around the world to list, accounting for about 10% of Singapore's total market capitalization, a ratio unmatched globally. Additionally, 90% of Singapore's real estate investment trusts hold portfolios outside of Singapore, covering Japan, Europe, or the United States, with 15 of these portfolios entirely consisting of cross-border real estate.</p>
<h3>Analysis: Are Chinese Real Estate Investment Trusts Not Coming?</h3>
<p>Lin Huizhang pointed out that as the Chinese market internationalizes, investors will have more products to choose from, and competition between China and Singapore will intensify. Singapore may lose China as a source market for real estate investment trust listings.</p>
<p>&#34;The reason the Singapore market continues to attract investors is due to its supportive regulations for overseas real estate investment trusts and a receptive investor base. Furthermore, Singapore has a mature regulatory framework, high standards for information disclosure, conservative leverage regulations, and ample liquidity in the secondary market. There is no doubt that Singapore must continue to maintain higher quality standards to retain its advantage as the hub of global real estate investment trusts.&#34;</p>
<p>However, &#34;the regulatory framework of the Singapore market is widely regarded as a benchmark for the Chinese market.&#34;</p>
<p>Currently, the average size of Chinese real estate investment trusts is relatively small, primarily investing in domestic assets. According to a report by Cushman &amp; Wakefield, by the end of 2025, China is expected to have nearly 80 C-REITs with a total market capitalization of $28.3 billion (approximately SGD 36 billion). In contrast, Singapore currently has 38 S-REITs with a total market capitalization of about $80 billion.</p>
<p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://dss0.zbstatic5.com/s3fs-public/articles/2026/04/22/fancan12042026RGB-01.jpg/query-MTAyOA?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://dss0.zbstatic5.com/s3fs-public/articles/2026/04/22/fancan12042026RGB-01.jpg/query-MTAyOA"/></p>
<h3>C-REITs Can Revitalize the Sluggish Chinese Real Estate Industry</h3>
<h4>Extended Reading</h4>
<p>ESR and two Chinese insurance groups establish a real estate income fund with a total investment scale of nearly 300 million yuan

 The rental rate of the Hongxin Comprehensive Real Estate Trust Investment Portfolio has significantly increased to 91.4%

</p>
<p>Vijay Natarajan, Vice President of Stock Research at Singapore's UOB, said: &#34;We do not deny the rapid growth of C-REITs, but in terms of maturity, S-REITs still lead. Currently, C-REITs are still a niche localized product, mainly targeting domestic retail and institutional investors in China. In the current challenging investment environment, C-REITs are a way for the Chinese government to try to revitalize the sluggish real estate industry, helping developers sell assets and alleviate some debt burdens.&#34;</p>
<p>Chen Qiuyi, a research analyst in the Research and Portfolio Management Department at FSM Global, believes that the growing interest of investors in C-REITs is likely driven by China's low interest rate environment, making income-generating investment tools more attractive to domestic investors. However, compared to S-REITs, C-REITs are still in the early stages of development, with generally lower yields, immature asset quality, and a short historical performance.</p>
<p>Chen Runxiong, Investment Analysis Manager at Phillip Securities, said that the rapidly growing Chinese market may reduce the number of initial public offerings in Singapore or the injection of new Chinese assets into existing S-REITs, especially those with stable cash flows suitable for the C-REIT structure. However, the growth of C-REITs is still constrained by regulations, quota limits, and relatively narrow asset class restrictions, making it unlikely to completely replace overseas listings in the short term</p>
<h3>Singapore Market's Dependence on China-Related Assets Decreases</h3>
<p>He said, &#34;The Singapore market can still provide international investors with deeper investment channels and foreign exchange diversification, thus remaining significant. For Singapore's ambition to build a hub for real estate investment trusts, the influence of China is a gradual process: the Singapore market's dependence on China-related assets is decreasing, but it needs to be repositioned to achieve global diversification.&#34;</p>
<p>Chen Qiuyi believes that the two markets will coexist, serving different investor groups and capital market functions, rather than directly competing.</p>
<p>Vijay also believes that there is enough space for the Singapore and Chinese markets to coexist and achieve organic growth.</p>
<p>Over the past six years, due to the tightening of regulations by the Chinese government and the decrease in domestic borrowing costs, the number of China-focused real estate investment trusts listed in Singapore has decreased. However, Vijay believes that the Singapore market has numerous opportunities in other regional and global markets to fill this gap. Therefore, he remains optimistic about Singapore's continued position as a global REIT hub in the next decade</p>

<p>The number of Chinese Real Estate Investment Trusts (C-REIT) has doubled that of Singapore (S-REIT), growing rapidly and competing with Singapore. Lin Huizhang, President of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association, stated that Singapore can still maintain its global REIT center advantage due to higher quality levels. Lin Huizhang pointed out at the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association conference in Singapore that the Chinese market is developing rapidly, and competition will intensify in the future. Singapore's Real Estate Investment Trusts account for 10% of its total market capitalization, with 90% holding overseas investment portfolios</p>

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China's C-REIT market is rapidly growing, and competition with Singapore's S-REIT is expected to intensify | Lianhe Zaobao