GRA Market Weekly (2025-01-26)

Policy Watch

CPC Central Committee and State Council: deepening rural land system reform

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council recently issued the Plan for Comprehensive Rural Revitalisation (2024-2027). The plan calls for deepening rural land system reform: accelerating unified titling and certification of rural homesteads and the housing on them, allowing farmers' legally owned homes to be put to use through leasing, equity participation and cooperation, advancing in an orderly manner the market entry of rural collective commercial construction land, prioritising land for rural revitalisation, and improving the distribution mechanism for land appreciation gains.

MNR and three other authorities jointly release the revised Land Reserve Administration Measures

The Ministry of Natural Resources, together with the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration, recently released the newly revised Land Reserve Administration Measures. As the foundational, normative document for the land reserve system, the Measures refine land reserve management across reserve plan management, standards for entry into the land bank, preliminary development, custody and supply, funds management, and regulatory accountability, aiming to safeguard the supply of "clean land" and promote economical, intensive and efficient land allocation in support of high-quality development.

NFRA: real estate "whitelist" project loans reach RMB 5.6 tn

NFRA Vice Minister Xiao Yuanqi said that as of 22 January, loans extended to real estate "whitelist" projects had reached RMB 5.6 tn. Under the urban real estate financing coordination mechanism, the principles of "include all eligible projects, lend to all eligible projects, act as early as possible" have been established: projects meeting the "5+5" criteria should all be brought under whitelist management with active support from commercial banks. The mechanism has played an important positive role in protecting homebuyers' rights and helping the property market stop falling and stabilise.

National urban renewal work conference: implement urban renewal vigorously and advance priority tasks in an orderly, effective manner

On 20 January, a national video conference on urban renewal deployment was held in Beijing. Politburo member and Vice Premier He Lifeng attended and spoke, calling for vigorous implementation of urban renewal and forceful, orderly and effective advancement of its priority tasks. He noted that urban renewal requires scientifically formulated dedicated plans, adherence to a single blueprint through to completion, with funds and production factors following projects, and projects following plans.

Zhengzhou releases 2025 homebuying support policies

On the morning of 24 January, the launch ceremony of Zhengzhou's 2025 Spring Festival-Lantern Festival commodity housing promotion campaign was held. Measures include tiered first-home purchase subsidies of up to RMB 3 m, RMB 1.5 m, RMB 1 m and RMB 500,000 for high-calibre talent, raising the housing provident fund loan cap to RMB 1.3 m, and mutual recognition and cross-city lending of housing provident funds among cities in the Zhengzhou metropolitan area.

Market Watch

Shanghai's first land auction of 2025 concludes: Poly Developments wins at a 27.9% premium

On 24 January, Shanghai's ninth-batch 2024 plots went under the hammer. Only one plot was offered in this round, located in Songjiang District; it sold at a 27.9% premium for a total of RMB 2.05 bn to Poly Developments.

Hangzhou land sales raise RMB 8.289 bn, with two plots at high premiums

On 24 January, three residential-use plots were offered in Hangzhou, in the Hushu, Shuangqiao and Xiasha units, with a total site area of 131,566 sqm, total planned GFA of 263,315.6 sqm and a combined starting price of RMB 5.429 bn. The Hushu unit plot sold after 220 rounds of bidding at a 71.25% premium; the Shuangqiao unit plot went at reserve price; the Xiasha unit plot cleared at a 41.46% premium - total proceeds of RMB 8.289 bn.

Project Watch

Marriott's DESIGN HOTELS brand makes its mainland China debut in Shanghai

On 15 January, Scholars Hotel Group and Marriott International announced a partnership to create the Scholars Xinbo DESIGN HOTELS Shanghai - the first DESIGN HOTELS property in mainland China and an initial exploration of cooperation between a Suzhou-grown hotel management brand and an international operator. Located at 160 Guizhou Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, the hotel offers 86 rooms. The building, formerly the "China Hotel", dates to 1930 - a classical European-style structure listed in Shanghai's fourth batch of Outstanding Historical Buildings.

Corporate Watch

CCCC Real Estate announces its exit from property development

On 21 January, CCCC Real Estate announced plans to transfer the assets and liabilities of its property development business to controlling shareholder CCCC Real Estate Group. Upon completion, the company will focus on asset-light businesses such as property services and asset management and operations, completing its strategic transformation. Since last year, developers including Huayuan Real Estate, Midea Real Estate, Gree Real Estate, Guancheng New Materials and CCCC Real Estate have announced exits from property development, and several have recently completed major asset restructurings.

CDH Investments: first closing of dedicated new-infrastructure fund

On 21 January, CDH's mezzanine and credit team announced the first closing of its dedicated new-infrastructure fund at nearly RMB 1 bn. The fund has drawn strong interest from domestic institutional investors, with LPs including several state-owned platforms; additional insurers, SOE platforms and university endowments intend to join subsequent closings. Following the 2020 launch of a RMB 2 bn vehicle - China's first RMB data centre fund - this is the second dedicated data centre fund sponsored by CDH's mezzanine team.

China Post Life signs as lead investor to acquire One Museum Place in Shanghai

On 16 January, China Post Life, as lead investor, formally signed the investment agreement for a dedicated real estate fund targeting One Museum Place (Bohua Plaza) in Shanghai. This is China Post Life's first collaboration with a Middle East sovereign investor and, following Beijing Jiu'an Plaza and Xi'an Qidi Center, another milestone in its commercial office investment programme. One Museum Place is a premium Grade A office property in the Nanjing West Road area of Jing'an District, Shanghai, rising 260 metres, and among the first commercial office projects in Shanghai to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

Shanghai Land Group issues China's first shelf-registered affordable rental housing CMBS

Shanghai Land Group recently issued China's first shelf-registered CMBS backed by government-supported rental housing. With a shelf size of RMB 7 bn, the programme is the largest single-tranche affordable rental housing CMBS issued nationwide, reinforcing Shanghai Land Group's leadership in the product category and underscoring the potential of affordable rental housing finance.

Market Data

Shanghai January new-home and secondary sales up 39% and 43% YoY on a daily-average basis

Data from the Shanghai Real Estate Trading Center show that from 1 to 23 January 2025, new-home transactions totalled 464,000 sqm, averaging 20,000 sqm per day, up 39% from January last year; secondary-home transactions totalled 1.32 m sqm (15,100 units), averaging 57,000 sqm (657 units) per day, up 43% year on year. (The Paper)