China to provide tax relief for new REITs

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will provide tax relief for new real estate investment trusts (REITs), the finance ministry and tax bureau said on Saturday, as part of a nationwide push to boost the nascent REITs market.

Corporate tax related to asset transfers will be exempted before the REITs are set up and can be deferred during the setup process, they said in a statement.

China launched a public REITs market China makes REITs push to speed up infrastructure investment in Shanghai and Shenzhen in June, allowing infrastructure projects - ranging from tollways to sewage plants - to be listed as part of an effort to ease the debt burden on local governments.

(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; Editing by William Mallard)