Four Chinese Departments Issue Real Estate Credit Reform Opinions and Five Supporting Measures

On August 28, 2026, the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration jointly issued the Opinions on Reforming and Improving Real Estate Credit Management to Accelerate the Building of a New Model for Real Estate Development. On the same day, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued the Notice on Improving the Commodity Housing Sales System; the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the Opinions on Capital Market Support for Building a New Model for Real Estate Development; and the National Financial Regulatory Administration, alone or with relevant departments, released five supporting administrative measures. These documents cover arrangements for real estate credit management, the commodity housing sales system, and capital market support for building a new model for real estate development.

In the area of rental housing, Article 16 of the Opinions specifies that affordable housing development loans are to be used exclusively to support the development and construction of eligible sale-type affordable housing projects, with loan interest rates determined on the principle of covering costs and yielding modest profits. Article 17 specifies that housing rental development and construction loans are to support the construction and renovation of long-term rental housing, with eligible borrowers including development enterprises, industrial parks, rural collective economic organizations, and enterprises and public institutions. Article 28 specifies that group home purchase loans for housing rental are to support enterprises, eligible public institutions, and specialized, large-scale housing rental enterprises in purchasing existing idle homes in bulk in accordance with laws and regulations, for long-term holding and operation as affordable or commercial rental housing, with a maximum term of no more than 30 years. Article 30 allows operating loans for housing rental, in the case of projects with self-owned property rights, to have a maximum term of up to 20 years.

In the area of urban renewal, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, together with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, formulated the Administrative Measures for Urban Renewal Project Loans (Trial), establishing an "urban renewal project loan" product and detailing access conditions, loan purposes, repayment, and fund management. Article 30 of the Opinions makes coordinating arrangements: rental housing without self-owned property rights formed through lawful and compliant renovation of industrial plants, commercial buildings, urban villages, and similar properties may obtain operating loans with a maximum term of no more than five years, with the amount in principle not exceeding 70% of the total rent receivable during the loan term.

In terms of support for existing properties and the capital market, the opinions issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission support the issuance of real estate investment trusts (REITs) backed by eligible rental housing, urban renewal, and other projects, or the injection of such projects as expansion assets into already listed REITs; they call for steadily and prudently advancing the development of commercial real estate REITs and continuing to advance pilot programs for real estate private investment funds. Article 25 of the Opinions encourages eligible banking financial institutions to issue credit asset-backed securities using personal housing loans as underlying assets to diversify credit risk.

In terms of mergers and acquisitions and risk prevention, the CSRC opinions support listed real estate development enterprises in refinancing through targeted issuance to specific investors, and support the comprehensive use of shares, targeted convertible bonds, cash, and other instruments for mergers and acquisitions and restructuring of real estate-related assets. Where assets are purchased through the issuance of shares or targeted convertible bonds, supporting funds may be raised. The opinions support the issuance of corporate bonds, commercial real estate mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and real estate asset-backed securities (ABS). On risk prevention, the CSRC opinions explicitly implement the "four early" requirements, strengthen coordinated supervision of stocks, bonds, and funds, unblock delisting channels, and cooperate with local governments to promote the disposal and clearing of defaulted bonds. Loans issued under the Administrative Measures for Commodity Housing Development Loans (Trial) will have their corresponding projects included in "whitelist" management, linked with the urban real estate financing coordination mechanism.