Between October 18th and October 20th, 2021, as publicly traded REITs have started again for a second time, the Yangtze River Delta Publicly Traded REITs Seminar was held at SAIF with the help of SAIFR and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE). The purpose of the seminar is to promote the development and implementation of publicly traded REITs projects in the Yangtze River Delta. More than 70 participants from 40 institutions attended the conference, including companies, brokerages, funds and investors who intend to participate in publicly traded REITs. The conference was academically guided by SAIF and was co-organized by the China Securitization Forum, China Merchants Securities, and King & Wood Mallesons.
The two-day seminar was presided over by Fangwei Wu (Deputy Director of SAIFR, Secretary General of China Securitization Forum) and Yun Zhu (Executive Secretary of China Securitization Forum). Professor Hong Yan (Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research at SAIF, Vice Chairman of the China Securitization Forum Board) and Professor Feng Li (Co-Director of SAIFR) attended the opening ceremony.
During the seminar, participants from different areas shared their views on publicly traded REITs. Wenxuan Xiao (Regional Head of the Bond Department at SSE), Yaping Wu (Expert of Investment Research Institute at National Development and Reform Commission, and Guilian Luo (Chief Expert of Investment and Financing Center at Shanghai State-owned Capital Operation Research Institute) gave speeches on "the general situation and project review of the first pilots", "key points and operational suggestions on the asset side", and "transformation of the investment and financing model of the original equity holders", respectively.
Others shared their experiences and suggestions on participating in the first pilots for publicly traded REITs. They included: Li Min (Deputy General Manager of the Finance Management Center of Capital Group), Minsi Wang (Deputy Director/Head of Asset Securitization of GLP), Cheng Wang (Head of REITs Business of CICC), Shi Qiu (Head of REITs Group of CITIC Securities), Yue Cao (General Manager of Fullgoal Asset), Zhiguo Feng (Tax Partner of KPMG China), Fushen Chen (Partner of King & Wood Mallesons), Yang Zhi ( Director/Head of Asset Securitization Business of Valuation Department of DTZ), and Kangjia Ni (Head of REITs Business of Investment Banking Committee of China Merchants Securities).
On the morning of the 20th, the closed seminar was held. Professor Hong Yan (Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research at SAIF), Dongxing Duan (Deputy General Manager of the Bond Department of SSE), Qi Zhao (Senior Manager and Head of REITs Business of SSE), Cen Chang (Deputy Director of the Finance and Economics Department of Shanghai Municipal Development & Reform Commission) and other participants attended the seminar.
Some representatives expressed their views on "the latest policy changes of Document No.958", "key points of the compliance review of infrastructure projects", "reflections on publicly traded REITs in 5A scenic spots", "reflections on banks", "participation in publicly traded REITs", "problems in publicly traded REITs in the exhibition industry", "publicly traded REITs for protected housing" and other related issues. They also provided policy consultation on problems encountered during the operation of new energy generation projects, indemnificatory housing projects, and non-government business projects.
Cen Chang said that Shanghai Municipal Government and Shanghai Development and Reform Commission actively supported publicly traded REITs. Chang interpreted Shanghai’s supporting policies and encouraged institutions to actively explore high-quality local assets and enterprises in other regions for the issuance of publicly traded REITs through the SSE.
Representatives of SSE introduced relevant work in the pilot promotion of publicly traded REITs, analyzed problems that commonly exist in this phase, and urged all parties to communicate and cooperate further in the joint promotion of healthy development for the REITs market.