GRA Market Weekly (2025-06-07)

Policy Watch

MOHURD, MOF and PBoC jointly release the 2024 Annual Report on the National Housing Provident Fund

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD), the Ministry of Finance and the People's Bank of China recently released the 2024 Annual Report on the National Housing Provident Fund. The report shows the scheme's coverage continues to broaden, with over RMB 1.3 tn of housing provident fund loans extended nationwide last year. In 2024 the fund stepped up its rent-and-purchase support for contributors' housing needs, with a focus on helping new urban residents and young people rent and settle. Full-year withdrawals reached RMB 2,765.484 bn, up 4.11% YoY. Some 22.5744 m contributors withdrew RMB 272.057 bn for rental housing, up 22.28% and 33.93% YoY respectively.

Central government to fund urban renewal in 20 cities including Beijing and Tianjin

The Ministry of Finance and MOHURD recently ran the 2025 selection round for central fiscal support of urban renewal actions. Per the Ministry of Finance's published shortlist, the 20 cities to be supported are: Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, Baotou, Dalian, Harbin, Suzhou, Wenzhou, Wuhu, Xiamen, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Yichang, Changsha, Guangzhou, Haikou, Yibin, Lanzhou, Xining and Urumqi. This year's cohort has been expanded: the 2024 tilt towards mega-cities and large cities along the Yangtze Economic Belt now extends to mega-cities and large cities along the Yellow River, Pearl River and other key river basins, and the city count rises from 15 in 2024 to 20. In total, 35 cities are now covered by the urban renewal action.

Central finance will continue to support urban renewal this year, exploring a sustainable urban renewal mechanism, closing gaps in urban infrastructure, strengthening consumption-oriented infrastructure, and shifting urban infrastructure development from "whether it exists" to "how good it is".

MOHURD: building "good homes" does not mean building "big" or "expensive" homes

The Residential Project Code took effect on 1 May this year. Yao Tianwei, Director-General of MOHURD's Department of Standards and Norms, said at the ministry's 5 June press conference on the Code's implementation that it sets the baseline requirements for building "good homes" and will provide strong guidance and support for the initiative. Building "good homes" not only opens broad scope for new technologies, products and materials, but can also unlock significant potential to expand domestic demand and boost consumption, opening new tracks for the transformation of the construction and real estate industries.

CSRC: supporting REIT issuance for new infrastructure projects and science and innovation parks

CSRC Chief Counsel Cheng Hehong said in a keynote at the 2025 Tianjin Wudadao Financial Forum on 5 June that the next step is to strengthen integrated equity-debt services: promoting high-quality development of sci-tech innovation corporate bonds, exploring more sci-tech themed bonds, actively helping qualified enterprises raise funding through sci-tech bonds to lower financing costs for innovative companies, and including quality issuers' sci-tech bonds among benchmark market-making instruments. The CSRC will support REIT issuance for new infrastructure such as artificial intelligence, data centres and smart cities, as well as science and innovation industrial parks, to help revitalise existing assets and support the digital upgrading of traditional infrastructure.

Targeted Policies

Beijing: 2025 graduate-season on-campus rental services campaign about to launch

The 2025 "graduate-season rental services on campus" campaign - jointly guided by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, and organised by the Beijing Real Estate Intermediary Industry Association - will fully launch in June, combining online and offline channels. Leading firms have already responded, with over 20 companies in the first batch pooling c. 117,000 dedicated market-based listings (units/rooms). In parallel, the municipal housing commission continues its special allocation of affordable rental housing for graduating students, pooling c. 29,000 units (rooms) across 28 projects.

Shanghai Development and Reform Commission: strengthening project pipelines to upgrade and expand infrastructure REITs

On 3 June, the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission issued a notice on further strengthening project reserve planning and expanding the city's infrastructure REITs. The commission will lead a "recommend-all-that-qualify" infrastructure REIT project reserve mechanism, working with district-level development and reform commissions, the Lin-gang Special Area administration and industry regulators to focus on the city's key infrastructure sectors, identify quality assets with clean titles, stable income and market-based operating capability, and strengthen early-stage cultivation. Relevant enterprises are encouraged to actively file infrastructure REIT reserve projects.

Market Watch

Shanghai: all three Dong'an Xincun residential plots sold for a combined RMB 52.303 bn - a new global land-price record

On 31 May, Shanghai New Dong'an Enterprise Development Co. (jointly controlled by Shanghai Land Group and Xuhui Chengtou) acquired plot 125-31 of unit C030301 in Xuhui District by negotiated grant for RMB 34.135 bn. With this, all three Dong'an Xincun residential-use plots have been sold for a combined RMB 52.303 bn, surpassing Manhattan's 2024 record of RMB 47.8 bn to set a new global land-price record. The transaction is equivalent to 40% of Shanghai's full-year 2024 public land sales revenue (RMB 132.161 bn).

Shanghai Urban Renewal Co. takes Shanggang community residential plot in Pudong for RMB 8.54 bn by negotiated grant

On 26 May, Shanghai Urban Renewal Construction & Development Co. acquired plot 04-1 of unit Z000101 in the Shanggang community, Pudong New Area, by negotiated grant for RMB 8.54 bn. Bounded by Jiming Road to the east and Yaochuan Road to the south, the plot has a site area of 41,900 sqm, a plot ratio of 2.9 and permissible GFA of 121,500 sqm, and carries requirements for affordable housing and rental housing development.

Project Watch

Hony Real Estate and Zhongrui Dingfeng open "Stey Qianhai"

"Stey Qianhai", a Nordic living space in the Hony Tower in Qianhai, Shenzhen, has officially opened. The project is a joint creation of Hongyuan Asset, under Hony Real Estate, and Zhongrui Dingfeng, a well-known Swedish investment manager - another flagship apartment product from Hongyuan Asset following the Hongshe Apartments in Beijing. Located at 3 Financial Street in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Zone, Nanshan District, the project occupies floors 31-36 of the Hony Tower complex and comprises 93 premium units ranging from 38 to 102 sqm.

China Resources Land plans to sell a Shanghai shopping centre for c. RMB 300-400 m

The Nanxiang CR Wucaicheng mall in Jiading District, Shanghai, operated by China Resources Mixc Lifestyle, is being offered for sale en bloc at an expected price of c. RMB 300-400 m (the current asking price is around RMB 350 m).

Nanxiang CR Wucaicheng was China Resources Land's first Wucaicheng-branded shopping centre in Shanghai - a high-quality one-stop neighbourhood retail centre spanning entertainment, F&B, children's and retail formats. Total GFA is 40,694.36 sqm, comprising 28,492.39 sqm of mall space and 12,201.97 sqm of ancillary space. The land is state-owned commercial land with a term from 15 April 2010 to 14 April 2050 - 25 years remaining. The mall opened on 25 October 2014 and has been operating for 9 years, with current occupancy reportedly at 92% and annual rental income of c. RMB 32 m.

Ciro's Plaza in Huangpu, Shanghai set to change hands to Xiangyu Group

The en-bloc sale of Ciro's Plaza, an office-retail complex in Huangpu District, Shanghai, has launched, and a subsidiary of Xiangyu Group is understood to intend to acquire a 98.68% stake. Located in the core Nanjing West Road commercial district, Ciro's Plaza is a 37-storey complex completed in 2001, comprising a Grade A office tower and a retail podium. The complex spans nearly 85,000 sqm and stands on the site of the Ciro's ballroom, which opened in 1936.

Gaw Capital took control of the project in 2008 and in 2015 brought in PAG and Goldman Sachs' merchant banking division as partners, with the three parties jointly holding 98.68% of the project. In 2023 the three shareholders launched an en-bloc sale at an initial asking price of RMB 2.8 bn (c. RMB 40,000/sqm). The sale covers c. 47,597 sqm of offices (L9-L39), 22,800 sqm of retail (B1-L7) and c. 250 basement parking spaces (B1-B3).

Corporate Watch

Haichang Ocean Park changes controlling shareholder

On 2 June, Haichang Ocean Park Holdings Ltd. (02255.HK) announced that Xiangyuan Holding Group will subscribe for 5.1 bn new shares for HKD 2.295 bn, thereby becoming the company's new controlling shareholder. Of the HKD 2.295 bn total, some 800 m is planned to be funded through borrowings from financial institutions, and Xiangyuan has held preliminary talks with four banks.

Haichang is the first mainland theme-park operator listed on the HKEX main board; it has recorded net losses attributable to shareholders for three consecutive years and experienced episodic liquidity stress. Haichang said the subscription, if completed, would bring in a new controlling shareholder, helping secure more strategic development resources while replenishing working capital and reducing finance costs. Proceeds from the new share issue are earmarked for working capital, core business development and partial repayment of existing debt.

New home prices in 100 cities edge up MoM in May

Per China Index Academy, in May 2025 the average price of new homes across 100 cities was RMB 16,815/sqm, up 0.30% MoM. By city count, 33 cities rose MoM, 54 fell and 13 were flat. Year on year, average new home prices across the 100 cities were up 2.56%.

Average second-hand home prices across the 100 cities were RMB 13,794/sqm, down 0.71% MoM, with the decline widening by 0.02 ppt from the prior month. By city count, second-hand prices fell MoM in all 100 cities. Year on year, average second-hand prices were down 7.24%.

Average residential rents across 50 cities were RMB 35.0/sqm/month, down 0.34% MoM; by city count, 3 cities rose MoM and 47 fell. Year on year, average rents across the 50 cities were down 3.44%.

Core cities keep releasing quality plots in May; land sales revenue sustains YoY growth

Per China Index Academy, in May 2025 residential land sold across 300 cities totalled 25.46 m sqm of planned GFA, down 21.0% YoY; land sales revenue was RMB 100 bn, up 9.6% YoY, though growth narrowed markedly versus the first four months, with an average premium rate of 6.9%. Cumulatively, in January-May the 300 cities sold 130 m sqm of planned residential GFA, down 7.5% YoY, for land sales revenue of RMB 649.7 bn, up 24.1% YoY.

On auction heat, key cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Chongqing and Wuhan held residential land auctions in May; Hangzhou stayed hot, and core-area plots in Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing and Wuhan also cleared at high premiums.

Concentration of land sales revenue continued to rise in 2025. In January-May 2025, the top 20 cities accounted for a high 66% of national residential land sales revenue (51% in 2024), and the top 10 cities for 54% (34% in 2024).