In recent years, an increasing number of countries have adopted the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) which originated in the United States. The number and volume of REITs globally are on a continuous upward trajectory. Not losing out on the opportunity, the Chinese government started investigating the idea since the turn of the century and finally concretized its action plan in 2020 with the issuance
of the Notice of the Work Related to Promoting the Pilot Program of Real Estate Investment Trusts, formally launching the pilot program of publicly offered infrastructure REITs in China, with certain prioritized infrastructure sectors and entry conditions. On 21 June 2021, the first batch of nine REITs became listed on China’s exchanges. Drawing valuable lessons from comparative jurisdictions including the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore, this article takes a pioneering step in critically analysing C-REITs from the perspective of investor protection. It discusses the agency problem hidden in the complex structure of C-REITs, the uncertainty in the trust form and suggests specific ways for better investor protection including, most importantly, the strengthening of trustee and manager duties, private enforcement and information disclosure.