On November 14, more than 200 scholars and industry professionals gathered for the 2025 NYU Shanghai Asia REITs Conference co-hosted by the university’s Institute for Cities and Real Estate in Emerging Markets (ICREEM) and the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate.
Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman and Angie Kamath, dean of NYU’s School of Professional Studies, opened the event by welcoming participants from across China and abroad. They emphasized the increasingly strategic role that research-driven thinking will play in the next stage of China’s real estate investment trust (REIT) development. ICREEM Executive Director Guohua Jean Zhang and Schack Associate Dean Marc Norman followed with a brief overview of ICREEM’s mission to bridge scholarship, policy, and market realities.
The day’s program featured a series of keynote talks by leading scholars and practitioners who offered an overview of global and Asian REIT trends, including current valuation challenges, evolving governance standards, and the widening use of institutional capital in the sector. Speakers also discussed how multinational REIT operators are adapting to the Chinese market and how China’s own REIT ecosystem is maturing through regulatory reforms, product innovation, and investor education.
Afternoon sessions brought together voices from investment management, real estate operations, insurance capital, and hospitality sectors to reflect on the future of real-asset securitization in Asia. Many noted that China’s REIT market, while still young, has already entered a period of transformation – one shaped by global experience and by China’s unique urban and financial landscape. Participants emphasized the importance of long-term thinking, transparency, and professionalized asset management as the market continues to expand.
The conference also marked the official launch of Real Estate REITs Theory and Practice from International Perspectives, the newest volume in the ICREEM Innovative Real Estate Theory and Practice Series, published by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Press. The book is among the first comprehensive works in China to examine real estate REITs from a truly international perspective and offers comparative insights into REIT structures, valuation methodologies, and policy frameworks worldwide.
The conference concluded with a keynote address by Feng Lun, founder of Beijing Vantone Real Estate and a member of NYU’s Board of Trustees, offered a forward-looking view of China’s real estate transformation. Drawing on his decades of experience as both an entrepreneur and thought leader, Feng reflected on how REITs are poised to become a central mechanism for the industry’s next development cycle. He encouraged the audience to view REITs not merely as financial instruments, but as part of a broader shift toward professionalized real estate operations and sustainable growth.