China resumes residential real estate funds in further support

CHINA resumed approvals for private equity funds to raise money for residential property developments, one of the latest moves to boost the country’s real estate sector as the downturn persists.

The Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) recently started allowing private equity funds to register such investment products, the people familiar said, requesting not to be named as the matter is private. AMAC, supervised by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, halted approvals in 2021, Bloomberg reported then.

China is stepping up its effort to arrest a property slump, telling banking and securities regulators to help improve the balance sheet of systemically important developers. Despite the 16-point measures rolled out in November, China’s home sales continued to slump last month, partly dented by Covid outbreaks across the country.

After the freeze, the number of private equity property funds dropped 14 per cent in 2021. Investments into real estate-focused private equity fund products also dropped to 438.9 billion yuan (S$85.4 billion) in 2021, down 2 per cent from a year earlier, according to data released by AMAC.

The securities regulator didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

China’s abrupt reversal of its Covid Zero policy pushed economic activity to the slowest pace since February 2020, as the virus swept through major cities and prompted people to say home and businesses to shut.

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The 100 biggest real estate developers saw new home sales drop 30.8 per cent from a year earlier to 677.5 billion yuan in December, according to preliminary data from China Real Estate Information Corp. That widened from a 25.5 per cent decline in November. BLOOMBERG