On February 17, the newly established Huaitianfu Jiuzhoutong Medical Warehousing Logistics REIT made waves in the market by achieving an astounding subscription multiple of 1,192 times among public investors, setting a historic record for public REITsFurthermore, the Guotai Junan Jinan Energy Heating REIT, which gathered over 129.2 billion RMB in subscription amounts, witnessed a 30% rise on its first trading day, hitting the maximum increase limitIn a parallel development, China Life recently announced its plan to invest 3.5 billion RMB into establishing a partnership aimed at investing in public infrastructure REITsThese events signify a burgeoning enthusiasm and confidence in the public REIT market in China.

Market analysts believe that with the acceleration of market development and an expanding spectrum of underlying assets, the REITs market is poised for faster growthThis growing interest is expected to foster a robust supply and demand dynamic.

Among the recent highlights, various first-of-their-kind REITs projects have emerged in sectors like heating equipment, agricultural trading markets, and medical logistics warehouses.

The Guotai Junan Jinan Energy Heating REIT, which was listed on February 17, marked its debut with a remarkable 30% surge, thereby highlighting the capital's growing favor in the marketplaceThis REIT holds a distinction as the first public municipal infrastructure REIT in the country and also the inaugural heating infrastructure REITThe project exemplifies a significant fusion of livelihood assurance and financial innovation, creating a successful model in revitalizing municipal infrastructure assets, ensuring residents' quality of life, and enhancing urban service functions.

In addition, two notable REITs—the first of its kind in the agricultural trading market and the first private enterprise REIT in Fujian Province, namely the Efund Huawell Market REIT, along with the first public REIT for medical warehousing and logistics—also drew significant investor interest since their launches

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The Huaitianfu Jiuzhoutong Medical REIT announced on February 12 that the effective subscription multiple for public investors reached an impressive 1,192 times, smashing the previous record of 813.44 times set by the Guotai Junan Jinan Energy Heating REIT.

According to CICC Fund, under the normalized issuance mechanism, it is anticipated that more inaugural projects will emerge in diverse sectors, including cultural and tourism infrastructures, elderly care, and data centers, leading to new breakthroughs in the REITs market.

Additionally, the existing REITs market has also shown positive price movementsAccording to data from Wind, since 2025, the China Securities REITs Total Return Index has increased by over 9%.

In light of soaring prices, several existing public REITs have opted to warn investors about the heightened risks or even suspend tradingFor instance, Huaxia Shen International REIT announced on February 12 that its market closing price on February 11 had surged by 10.51% compared to February 6’s closing price, prompting a one-hour trading suspension to protect the interests of fund holdersMeanwhile, Huatai Nanjing Jianye REIT issued a notice, reminding investors to be cautious of transaction price fluctuations, urging them to make informed investment decisionsThe fund's closing price was recorded at 3.349 RMB on February 5, reflecting a 20.42% increase from December 30, 2024.

Guotai Junan Securities analyst Liu Yu articulated that as prices continue to soar, market opportunities are transitioning from a broad-based rise to a more focused "structural gold mining" approachThis emphasizes a granular examination of the cash flow disaggregation of underlying assets and the operational capacity of fund managers.

Furthermore, chief fixed income analyst Jin Yi from Guohai Securities recommended paying attention to the economy's fundamental recovery and the impact of 2024 earnings realization, advising a detailed analysis of key indicators—such as traffic volume, occupancy rates, rental growth rates, and online electricity usage—across different industries.

The trend of market expansion appears to be firmly established

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Analysts are optimistic that with policies continuously improving and the market maturing, the variety of assets eligible to be pooled into REITs will enrich considerably, signaling continued growth in the marketplace.

Looking forward, the underlying assets of REITs are expected to extend from traditional infrastructure into "hard tech" sectorsThis includes the potential issuance of REITs for projects supporting artificial intelligence, data centers, smart cities, and tech innovation industrial parks, among others.

The National Public Credit Rating Agency expressed that the underlying assets of REITs are gradually encompassing emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence computing centers, green data centers, and IoT platforms for smart citiesBy integrating and securitizing dispersed technological assets, a trillion-level value can be unlocked while channeling social capital toward cutting-edge technology fields. "With more 'new economy' assets entering the market, the REITs market scale is likely to witness exponential expansion," their recent report stated.

Advancements in elderly care REITs are also anticipatedThere is ongoing exploration into issuing asset-backed securities and REITs based on elderly care facilities and related assetsExperts suggest that, as an innovative financial instrument, REITs can assist in the transformation and upgrading of the elderly care industry, enhancing operational efficiency and service quality while promoting sustainable development in the sectorParticularly, a combination of "elderly communities + medical support" offers strong cash flow stability and solid policy backing.

Moreover, the innovation and development of cultural and tourism REITs is an area of excitementRecently, policies were introduced to support the issuance of REITs for qualifying cultural and tourism projectsHuaxia Fund envisions that various assets, such as cultural tourism sites, commercial office buildings, hotels, and railways, will make their way into the REITs market in the future.

The acceleration of market construction for REITs has been viewed by industry insiders as a clear policy signal aimed at expediting the development of public REITs

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CITIC construction securities anticipate that in the short term, regulatory bodies will focus more on managing disclosure norms and establishing a multi-tiered REITs market, while in the medium to long term, efforts may concentrate on special legislation, introducing incremental capital, and bolstering active management to ensure high-quality growth in the REITs marketplace.