(Yicai) April 17 -- Singaporean developer CapitaLand Group has applied to launch a real estate investment trust based on its commercial complexes in China, making it the country's first international issuer of a retail REIT.

CapitaLand Investment has applied to register and list CapitaLand Commercial C-REIT with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the asset management arm of CapitaLand announced today.

CLCR will be seeded with two high-quality mature assets: CapitaMall SKY+ in the first-tier city of Guangzhou and CapitaMall Yuhuating in Changsha, Hunan province, CLI noted. They are valued at about CNY2.8 billion (USD383.2 million), with a floor area of 168,405 square meters and a committed occupancy of 97 percent, it added.

CapitaMall SKY+ is co-owned by CLI and CapitaLand Development, while CapitaMall Yuhuating is under CapitaLand China Trust, CLI said, adding that "as strategic investors, CLI, CLCT, and CLD will collectively hold at least a 20 percent interest in CLCR."

"The proposed listing of CLCR is in line with CLI's strategy to pursue asset-light growth and expand in China by tapping domestic capital," said Puah Tze Shyang, chief executive of CLI China. "It will further strengthen CLI's listed funds platform, broaden our access to perpetual domestic capital, and enable us to grow our assets under management and recurring fee income.

"This move also complements CLCT, our Singapore-listed fund for international investors looking to invest in China, allowing us to attract diverse capital sources that meet various investor requirements," Puah added.

CLI manages 43 operational retail properties across 18 Chinese cities with total retail assets under management of around SGD18 billion (USD13.7 billion), according to the company.

In 2020, China initiated a pilot project of infrastructure REIT, a kind of equity investment product based on property with stable income. The number of such products listed on domestic bourses has reached 64, with a total value of CNY170 billion (USD23.3 billion).

Editor: Martin Kadiev