(Yicai) Nov. 27 -- China's first batch of Real Estate Investment Trusts backed by shopping malls were given the green light by regulators yesterday, marking the expansion of the country's REITs market into the consumption sector from infrastructure.

Three trusts backed by the China Resources Mixc in Qingdao, eastern Shandong province, the Jinmao Mall of Splendors in Changsha, central Hunan province and Xixi Incity in Hangzhou, eastern Zhejiang province were approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission yesterday for trading on the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges.

A fourth that is backed by two government-subsidized rental housing communities under Shanghai Chengtou Group was also green lit that day. The four trusts have a combined value of CNY14 billion (USD2 billion)

The approval of the country’s first consumption-related infrastructure projects provides more channels for investment and broadens financing channels for businesses to help spur market vitality, an industry insider said.

The regulator said it would expand its REIT market into the consumption sector from infrastructure in March, and rolled out new rules for this in October. And there are many more involving large retailers and developers such as Wumart Group, Bailian Group and Capital Group that are still in the pipeline.

Infrastructure REITs are equity-based financial instruments backed by infrastructure assets with stable returns. China started piloting infrastructure REITs in 2020 and by the end of October, there were 29 such trusts worth CNY100 billion (USD14 million) had been launched, according US real estate services provider Cushman & Wakefield.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor