Real Estate Credit Reform Supporting Measures Take Effect; First Land Auctions After the New Policy Show a "Hot and Cold Divide"

This Week at a Glance

• Policy | Real estate credit system reform: each project is matched to a single lead bank, development loans run up to 5 years for pre-sale projects and 7 years for completed-property sales projects, and the maximum mortgage loan term can be extended from 30 to 40 years
• Policy | Shanghai's 15th Five-Year Plan for housing and urban-rural development: 25 to 28 million sqm of new commodity housing supply, with comprehensive redevelopment of urban villages to be fully launched by the end of 2026
• REITs | The Chuangjin Hexin Beijing State-owned Assets Management Commercial Real Estate REIT lists on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the country's first "technology innovation + urban renewal" themed REIT, with underlying assets totalling about 125,600 sqm of GFA
• Land | 17 residential-inclusive land plots in the four Tier-1 cities are scheduled for sale in September, with total starting prices of nearly RMB 61.8 billion
• Land | China Overseas Land & Investment secures the Shanghai Zhenru Center site at the reserve price of RMB 15.09 billion, with only one bidder; China Resources Land wins the Wenyu River site in Beijing's Shunyi District for RMB 8.2993 billion after 174 rounds, at a premium rate of 17.37%
• Data | Total sales of the top 100 developers reached RMB 2.01759 trillion in the first eight months, with 5 developers above RMB 100 billion and 40 above RMB 10 billion, the latter down 13 from a year earlier
• Projects | Southwest China's first standalone affordable rental housing delivery-rider apartments come into use in Chengdu, with an occupancy rate of 92%; Shanghai Lingang New Area launches its housing application window for newly employed young people
• Corporate | China Resources Mixc Lifestyle's H1 profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 2.239 billion, up 10.3% year on year; R&F Properties receives a regulatory warning letter over information disclosure issues for the second time in two months
• Overseas | China Merchants Commercial REIT acquires a Hung Hom student accommodation asset for about HK$528.5 million; Singapore's Centurion Corporation proposes to acquire a North Point residential building for HK$364 million; Ares completes fundraising for a ¥612 billion (about US$4 billion) Japan logistics fund

01 Policy & Capital Markets

Real estate credit system completes its supporting reforms; development loans, mortgage loans and commercial real estate loans move to project-centred management

On 29 August, People's Daily Online published a consolidated interpretation of the real estate credit system reform released by the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration on 28 August. The core of the new rules is not merely the extension of mortgage loan terms, but the rebuilding of the underlying framework for real estate financing through the Opinions on Reforming and Improving Real Estate Credit Management to Accelerate the Construction of a New Model for Real Estate Development and supporting measures covering commodity housing development loans, mortgage loans, commercial real estate loans, urban renewal loans and real estate trust business.

On the development side, each real estate project is matched to a single lead bank, which extends development loans alone or leads a syndicate; loan terms are matched to construction and sales cycles, with a maximum of 5 years for pre-sale projects and 7 years for completed-property sales projects, and the first principal repayment is in principle scheduled after the project's completion filing. On the household side, the maximum mortgage loan term can be extended from 30 to 40 years, and loan disbursement is linked to project supervision accounts through entrusted payment.

For the industry, this means that banks' credit focus will shift further down from developers' entity-level credit to the compliance, construction progress, sales collections and closed-loop cash flow of the projects themselves. Financing certainty for quality projects improves, but the room for developers to divert funds and roll over high-leverage development is compressed.

Shanghai: 15th Five-Year Plan for housing and urban-rural development released, setting out commodity housing supply, urban village redevelopment and old housing renewal tasks together

On 3 September, Shanghai released its 15th Five-Year Plan for housing and urban-rural development, proposing 25 to 28 million sqm of new commodity housing supply over the plan period, while pushing ahead with the comprehensive redevelopment of urban villages and the conversion of old housing into self-contained units.

The plan sets three milestones: by the end of 2026, fully launch comprehensive urban village redevelopment projects and fully complete remediation and upgrading; by the end of 2027, fully complete the preliminary redevelopment of comprehensive redevelopment projects; and by the end of 2030, strive to basically complete the conversion of non-self-contained workers' housing and achieve positive results in the renewal of non-self-contained lilong housing, apartments and garden residences.

Compared with a standalone residential supply plan, this plan places more emphasis on advancing housing supply, urban renewal, infrastructure safety and digital governance in combination.

Shenzhen Stock Exchange: commercial real estate REITs continue to expand, as technology innovation and urban renewal assets enter the public REIT platform

On 3 September, the Chuangjin Hexin Beijing State-owned Assets Management Closed-end Commercial Real Estate Securities Investment Fund listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, described by Securities Times as the country's first commercial real estate public REIT themed on "technology innovation + urban renewal" and the first commercial real estate public REIT approved for listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The underlying assets include Longfu Building, Longfusi Beili, Liangzi Xinzuo and Liangzi Yinzuo, with underlying assets totalling about 125,600 sqm of GFA, comprising both urban renewal carriers and technology innovation space.

Taken together with the CSRC's policy direction at the end of August of supporting the capital market in serving the new model for real estate, this listing reflects the gradual extension of commercial REITs from traditional assets such as shopping centres, hotels and offices to urban renewal and technology innovation carriers. For institutional investors, the pricing of such assets will focus on tenant mix, rent stability, post-renewal operating capability and distribution sustainability, rather than simply a discount to real estate valuation.

02 Market

Tier-1 Cities: nearly RMB 61.8 billion of residential-inclusive land plots on offer in September, with core sites still set to attract capital after the new policy

On 2 September, the China Index Academy released its September land auction calendar, showing a combined 17 residential-inclusive land plots scheduled for sale in the four Tier-1 cities, with total starting prices of nearly RMB 61.8 billion. Of these, Beijing has 6 residential-inclusive plots with total starting prices of RMB 25.124 billion; Shanghai's ninth and tenth batches comprise 7 residential-inclusive plots with total starting prices of RMB 26.287 billion; Guangzhou has 3 residential-inclusive plots with total starting prices of RMB 9.258 billion; and a scarce residential site in Shenzhen's Futian Xiangmihu has a starting price of about RMB 1.131 billion.

This supply schedule comes on the heels of the end-August reforms on completed-property sales, funds supervision and supporting credit measures, and market attention to sale conditions, delivery milestones and funds supervision arrangements has risen markedly. The key to subsequent land auction heat lies not in total volume but in whether plots meet four conditions: "core location, a clearly defined customer base, low-density or scarce product, and a controllable development cycle". Capital will continue to concentrate in quality districts of Tier-1 cities, but the new policy will make developers more cautious in calculating capital tie-up and profit safety margins.

Shanghai: China Overseas Land & Investment secures the Zhenru Center site at the reserve price of RMB 15.09 billion; a RMB 10 billion-plus mixed-use development tests long-term operating capability

On 1 September, Shanghai's eighth-batch land auction concluded, with China Overseas Land & Investment securing the Zhenru Center site in Putuo District at the reserve price of RMB 15.09 billion. Known in the market as the "Shanghai Zhenru Center" mega-project, the site had attracted wide attention for its large scale, high starting price and location in a sub-centre of Shanghai's central urban area, but ultimately drew only one bidder, China Overseas. China Overseas already has a foothold in the Zhenru area with projects including the Zhenru Jing TOD complex, China Overseas Huanyucheng MAX and Huanyu Jiuzhang; this acquisition is closer to contiguous, deep cultivation of the area than an isolated land-bank top-up.

From an investment perspective, the project is not a typical fast-turnover residential site but a long-term mixed-use development in which residential, commercial and TOD district value is realised together. In the wake of the new policy, capital tie-up on the order of RMB 15 billion further highlights the importance of financing arrangements, sales pacing, commercial operation and population inflow to the district, and also reflects that the pool of potential buyers for complex sites of RMB 10 billion and above is narrowing further to a small number of central and state-owned enterprises and deeply rooted local players.

Beijing: Shunyi Wenyu River site sold after 174 rounds of bidding, as low-density certainty supports the heat of the first land auction after the new policy

On 3 September, Beijing held its first major land auction since the end-August real estate policy. Plots SY00-2101-2001 and 2002, near the Wenyu River ecological corridor in Houshayu Town, Shunyi District, were won by China Resources Land for RMB 8.2993 billion after 174 rounds of bidding, at a blended accommodation value of about RMB 40,600 per sqm, or about RMB 41,200 per sqm for the residential portion after stripping out the commercial component, and a premium rate of 17.37%. The site has a land area of about 202,200 sqm and a planned GFA of about 204,200 sqm, with a residential plot ratio of only 1.01; it sits in the Wenyu River ecological corridor between the Fifth and Sixth Ring Roads, adjacent to Beijing Runyuan, which China Resources developed earlier.

Notably, the Chaoyang Jiangtai Tuofangying plot originally scheduled for sale the same day was suspended, with conditions to be optimised in light of the new policy. The divergence between the two sites shows that low-density, upgrader-oriented plots with controllable construction schedules and well-verified customer bases can still attract active bidding, whereas more complex, higher-priced sites or those with heavier ancillary construction requirements need their sale conditions recalculated under the completed-property sales and funds supervision framework.

Data Watch | Top 100 developers' sales exceed RMB 2 trillion in the first eight months, as best-selling projects chart an independent course

On the evening of 31 August, several research institutions released developer sales data for January-August 2026. National Business Daily, citing China Index Academy data, reported that total sales of the top 100 developers reached RMB 2.01759 trillion in the first eight months, with the year-on-year decline widening by 0.3 percentage points from January-July; 5 developers recorded cumulative full-calibre sales above RMB 100 billion, flat on a year earlier; and 40 exceeded RMB 10 billion, down 13 from a year earlier.

The data show that the industry as a whole remains in the off-season and in a bottoming process, but developers with deep exposure to core cities, such as China Overseas Land & Investment, China Resources Land, China Merchants Shekou, China Jinmao and Beijing Urban Construction, still achieved year-on-year growth in cumulative sales. The divergence on the sales side is highly consistent with the hot plots on the land side: the market has not recovered across the board; rather, quality cities, quality districts and quality products have gained independent absorption capacity, and the creditworthiness of central and state-owned enterprises and their product delivery capability have become key to stable sales rankings.

03 Projects

Chengdu: Southwest China's first standalone affordable rental housing delivery-rider apartments come into use, as idle state-owned assets are converted to meet the housing needs of new-form employment groups

On 2 September, People's Daily Online's Sichuan channel reported that on 31 August the "Jiaozi Jingyu Rider Apartments", developed by the Chengdu Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau together with Jinniu District and Meituan headquarters, welcomed its first batch of riders signing leases and moving in; more than 100 people signed and moved in, and the project's occupancy rate reached 92%.

Located at 92 Yihuan Road North Section 3, Jinniu District, adjacent to Liangjiaxiang Station on Metro Line 6, the project was originally 1970s street-front shops, paper mill workers' dormitories and production workshops; after conversion it offers 108 rooms and 140 beds, together with a non-motorised vehicle garage, battery-swapping equipment, a shared kitchen, a rest station and guest rooms for visiting family. Rents are set at a 10% discount to market appraisal, with residential water and electricity tariffs.

The value of this case lies in extending affordable rental housing from ordinary young white-collar workers to riders and other workers in new forms of employment, and in using an "affordable rental housing + service station" model to improve retention and operating stickiness, providing a template for converting underperforming state-owned assets in core urban areas that balances cash flow and social benefit.

Shanghai Lingang: housing application window for newly employed young people launched, as talent housing services move from centralised supply to routine intake

According to the Lingang New Area talent housing website, the "Lingang New Area Housing Application Service Window for Newly Employed Young People" officially launched on 1 September. The window provides newly employed young people with housing applications, eligibility consultation, progress enquiries and matching to affordable rental housing units, and the platform also displays modules for affordable rental housing, market rental, online unit selection and eligibility self-assessment. Lingang New Area had already treated accommodation for young talent, industrial workers and corporate employees as an important part of its industrial support; making the application window routine means talent housing is gradually shifting from supply project by project to platform-based management.

For industrial park and rental housing investment, the lesson of the Lingang case is that housing is no longer merely an urban welfare benefit or a corporate dormitory, but part of industrial investment attraction, young talent retention and park operating efficiency. Whether unit supply, application review, post-lease services and matching to corporate demand can form a closed loop will affect the occupancy and stability of affordable rental housing projects.

Shanghai: Bailian Fanhuali continues to build a silver-economy consumption ecosystem, as standing retail in a core shopping district tries an age-friendly repositioning

On 4 September, AgeClub and Bailian Fanhuali held the "Boundless Blooms, Unlimited Life" silver-economy consumption event in Shanghai, featuring roadshows and leasing outreach around smart elderly-care products, scenario applications and the silver-economy commercial ecosystem. Public information shows that Bailian Fanhuali occupies floors 7-8 of Halls A and B of the Shanghai No.1 Department Store Commercial Center, with a scale of about 7,000 sqm; it is a one-stop silver-age lifestyle brand space created by Bailian Co., Ltd., integrating health, nutrition, aesthetics, smart technology and lifestyle services.

Unlike traditional elderly-care institutions, Bailian Fanhuali is located in the core Nanjing East Road shopping district and targets the consumption, experience and social needs of active seniors. The project shows that, as footfall structures change, standing department stores and core-district retail are looking for new growth curves beyond youth trends and family consumption; if the silver economy can build stable repeat purchasing and service stickiness, it has the potential to become an important direction for repositioning standing retail assets.

04 Corporate

China Resources Mixc Lifestyle posts interim profit growth and stresses it will not trade low prices for scale, as commercial and property management enter a quality-competition phase

On 31 August, China Resources Mixc Lifestyle released its 2026 interim results and held a results briefing. Public reports show the company's H1 profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 2.239 billion, up 10.3% year on year; management stressed at the briefing that core Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities remain the main battleground, and said property services would not trade low prices for scale.

For commercial operation and property management companies, this stance is consistent with the shift in the overall logic of the real estate industry: as incremental development slows and the operation of standing assets grows in importance, the core competition among commercial and property managers is no longer simply expanding managed area, but balancing tenant mix, footfall management, fee collection quality, owner satisfaction and margins. For investors in held assets, a case like China Resources Mixc Lifestyle also suggests that asset-light services and third-party expansion still have room, but project selection must revolve around city tier, business-format maturity and management fee collection quality, rather than pure scale expansion.

Guangzhou: R&F Properties receives another regulatory warning letter, as disclosure compliance requirements for distressed developers' bonds keep tightening

On 2 September, the Guangdong Securities Regulatory Bureau took the administrative supervisory measure of issuing warning letters to Guangzhou R&F Properties Co., Ltd., its then chairman Li Sze Lim and its then head of information disclosure Hu Jie. National Business Daily reported that the regulator found that R&F, as a corporate bond issuer, had failed to disclose in a timely manner overdue interest-bearing debt and material litigation and arbitration matters; this is the second time in two months that R&F has been named by regulators over information disclosure issues.

The report also noted that R&F Properties' interim report showed total borrowings of RMB 97.525 billion, with RMB 82.842 billion due within one year, while total cash and bank deposits (including restricted cash) were about RMB 2.6 billion.

The case shows that regulatory focus during developers' debt workouts has extended from "whether to restructure" to "whether risks are disclosed fully, promptly and truthfully". Bond investors and potential asset buyers need to pay closer attention to disclosure quality, litigation enforcement and progress in disposing of collateralised assets, rather than looking only at headline extension plans.

05 Overseas

Hong Kong: China Merchants Commercial REIT teams up with BGO to acquire Hung Hom student accommodation, as Hong Kong student housing assets enter a platform-based expansion phase

On 31 August, PRNewswire and BONARD disclosed that China Merchants Commercial REIT, through a joint venture platform in which it holds a 55% interest, has acquired The Quad, a brand-new student accommodation asset in Hung Hom, Hong Kong, at an agreed property value of about HK$528.5 million, a discount of about 7.2% to the independent valuation of about HK$569.4 million as at 31 May 2026. Located at 470-478 Chatham Road North, Kowloon, the property is a 25-storey whole building with a total GFA of about 42,000 sq ft, providing 184 units, 205 beds and several retail units, close to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Metropolitan University and the Hung Hom, Ho Man Tin and To Kwa Wan transport nodes.

China Merchants Commercial REIT had earlier acquired the CM+U student accommodation in Tsim Sha Tsui, which began operating on 15 August and reached full occupancy; the Hung Hom project marks the move of its student housing business from a single trial to platform-based expansion in the core Kowloon academic cluster. For Hong Kong alternative residential assets, student accommodation now has a clearer closed loop of acquisition, operation, branding and REIT exit.

Hong Kong: Singapore's Centurion Corporation proposes to acquire a North Point residential building, as foreign capital keeps adding to Hong Kong's rental accommodation sector

On 1 September, Mingtiandi reported that a local subsidiary of Singapore accommodation asset operator Centurion Corporation has signed a provisional agreement and proposes to acquire Yan Wo Building at 70 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong, for HK$364 million, planning to pursue the transaction through a joint venture held 50:50 with its controlling shareholder's private investment platform. The property is a 26-storey commercial-residential building completed in 2000, about a 3-minute walk from North Point MTR Station, with a total GFA of about 34,286 sq ft, of which about 26,070 sq ft is residential and about 8,216 sq ft is a retail podium; the acquisition price equates to about HK$10,617 per sq ft.

Valuation advisers believe that if converted to student accommodation, monthly rents could reach HK$30,000 to HK$35,000 per unit, implying a net yield of about 4.8%-5.5%. Centurion already operates student accommodation and worker dormitory projects in Hong Kong, and this move further shows that Singapore capital is treating old Hong Kong residential buildings as income-producing assets that can be converted into student accommodation, youth apartments or short-stay accommodation.

Japan: Ares completes fundraising for a US$4 billion Japan logistics fund, as long-term capital keeps backing modern logistics in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya

On 2 September, Mingtiandi reported that Ares Management has completed fundraising for its fifth Japan logistics development fund, Japan Logistics Development Partners V, with the fund reaching ¥612 billion, or about US$4 billion, hitting its hard cap and becoming the largest closed-end institutional fund in the history of Ares' real estate business. Canadian pension fund CPPIB committed ¥150 billion, or about 24.5% of the fund. The fund targets modern logistics facilities in Greater Tokyo, Greater Osaka and Nagoya, with total investment capacity of about ¥1.7 trillion, of which committed projects account for about ¥450 billion of total investment, or about 26% of total capacity.

Although the fund does not target residential assets, it is indicative of sentiment on the Japanese market: global pension funds, sovereign funds and insurance capital remain willing to allocate to long-term real estate in Japan through development funds, on the underlying logic of supply chain restructuring, e-commerce and modern warehousing demand, and the scarcity of land and compliant development capability in the Tokyo area.