Holding Qingdao Vientiane City, which earns 400 million yuan annually, China Resources Commercial REIT awaits the completion of the expansion fundraising.

Opinion Network Qingdao Vientiane City is getting more and more enjoyable to visit, and Huaxia China Resources Commercial REIT (hereinafter referred to as China Resources Commercial REIT) naturally feels more at ease with its “cash cow” in hand.

Currently, the domestic retail commercial market is not doing very well, with many commercial projects constrained by intensified regional competition, single tenant structures, or insufficient operational capabilities, leading to sluggish rent growth, fluctuations in occupancy rates, and even risks of losing core tenants.

In this broader context, assets capable of achieving growth in core indicators undoubtedly have stronger cyclical resilience.

Last year, Qingdao Vientiane City demonstrated such performance.

As the only underlying asset currently held by China Resources Commercial REIT, this shopping center, which opened in 2015 and covers nearly 300k square meters, seems to show no signs of fatigue after ten years of operation.

This contributed to China Resources Commercial REIT achieving double-digit growth in performance by 2025.

From a financial perspective, China Resources Commercial REIT achieved an operating income of 762 million yuan last year, an 18.7% increase year-over-year; EBITDA was 424 million yuan; net profit recorded 55.73 million yuan, a significant increase from 12.31 million yuan last year.

In terms of distributions, China Resources Commercial REIT had a distributable amount of 365 million yuan, with actual distributions of 360 million yuan, completing four dividend payments in 2025, with a cash flow payout ratio of about 3.72%.

Supporting this performance, Qingdao Jiasheng Run City Commercial Management Co., Ltd. (Qingdao Vientiane City) achieved comprehensive growth in 2025.

[Image source: corporate financial report, business customer excerpt]

The project still maintains its top-tier M2 positioning (or the latest city flagship positioning), with operating income of 754 million yuan, a 19.74% increase; EBITDA reached 439 million yuan, a 20.91% increase; meanwhile, gross profit margin increased from 61.42% in the same period last year to 64.73%.

Occupancy rate is a core indicator of the health of shopping center operations, and market consensus considers 95% occupancy as the healthy threshold for commercial projects. As of the end of 2025, Qingdao Vientiane City had 139.8k square meters available for rent, with an actual rented area of 138.5k square meters, resulting in an occupancy rate of 99.09%.

Regarding rent prices, the average level during the reporting period was 426.61 yuan per square meter per month. Considering Qingdao’s status as a strong second-tier city, this rent price already ranks among the top tiers.

Additionally, according to China Resources Commercial REIT’s Q4 2025 report, the average rent price for Qingdao Vientiane City has increased to 436.44 yuan per square meter per month. The full-year rent price in 2024 was 397.73 yuan per square meter per month.

Furthermore, the project’s weighted average remaining lease term at the end of the period is 2 years, indicating a healthy structure. Currently, tenant concentration remains low, with the top five tenants’ rent income accounting for only 13.63%, making the tenant structure controllable.

The financial report also revealed that last year, Qingdao Vientiane City set a new record for visitor traffic, and membership numbers increased by 22% year-over-year to 1.77 million. In comparison, as of the end of 2024, Qingdao’s resident population was approximately 10.44 million.

Behind these data points is the active soft and hard hardware upgrades Qingdao Vientiane City carried out last year, which benefited its operational performance.

It is understood that in August last year, Qingdao Vientiane City completed the early opening of the Phase 1 South Area renovation, involving about 12.5k square meters of construction area, and introduced 15 new stores, including clothing retail brand Xichang Village, homeware brand Harbor House, and restaurants such as Fuma Alley, Shiqiu, Yushan Ji, Middle Eastern cuisine ASAH, Mo Zong BBQ, and Little Rock Hidden.

In addition, the areas of Phase 1 L4-L5 and parts of Phase 2 L4-L5 completed renovations in 2024, totaling over 25k square meters of upgraded space.

But what draws the most attention externally is the intensity of brand adjustments at Qingdao Vientiane City. The financial report shows that in 2025, 151 new stores opened, including 46 Shandong first stores and 12 Qingdao first stores.

Specifically, Qingdao Vientiane City introduced brands such as Descenté DESCENTE Shandong flagship store, Salomon Salomon’s first S-level flagship store in Shandong, HOURGLASS first store in Shandong, DOCUMENTS Qingdao first store, GROTTO first store in Shandong, tea‘stone first store in Shandong, Ba Nu Tripes Hotpot Qingdao first store, Yushan Ji first store in Shandong, Four Seasons Coconut Tree first store in Shandong, Fuma Alley first store in Shandong, among others.

Particularly noteworthy is the project’s clustering effect on outdoor sports brands. In 2025, international outdoor brands such as Salomon, KEEN, MAMMUT, and Haglofs have either opened new stores or upgraded existing ones, rapidly expanding Qingdao Vientiane City’s outdoor brand matrix.

According to information shared by the project on Xiaohongshu in September 2025, the number of outdoor-related brands inside the mall has approached 50, forming a complete coverage from professional equipment to urban outdoor. This layout taps into the current structural hot spots in consumer markets, with outdoor sports categories leading retail growth in recent years.

Meanwhile, Qingdao Vientiane City continues to enrich its outdoor sports brand offerings.

It is understood that from Q4 2025 to Q1 2026, over about half a year, the project will introduce brands such as Skechers Kids, German sustainable outdoor brand VAUDE, high-end children’s outdoor brand Dodopoli, and light outdoor parent-child brand ACMEITEM, further establishing itself as Qingdao’s most comprehensive outdoor sports mall.

At the same time, Qingdao Vientiane City is continuously upgrading its internal brands, including the introduction of Korean trendy brand Mmlg’s first store in Shandong, women’s clothing brand AIRIQI, independent fashion brand MEIYANG, mid-to-high-end women’s fashion ARIOSEYEARS, UK vintage casual shoe brand WALSH, children’s apparel brand PAW IN PAW, Anta Campus, Hunter UK rain boots’ first store in Shandong, Peacebird, trendy apparel brand SMILEREPUBLIC, and more.

It also includes brands like Jialili Butter Hand Gift, HOOHOO creative cuisine, dessert brand Rainbobo, new Beijing cuisine brand Xihe Jingzhi, new retail brand Tomato Pocket, Sichuan cuisine brand Ma Hongxing’s first store in Shandong, Korokoro Dorayaki brand Ze Tianbenjia, Guochao accessories brand Fulu, Sanrio’s first store in Qingdao, and Holiland’s first store in Shandong.

However, no matter how well a single asset is operated, there is ultimately a concentration risk. For China Resources Commercial REIT, expanding fundraising is an inevitable path.

In 2025, the fund manager of China Resources Commercial REIT launched two rounds of expansion plans.

The first was announced on March 25, aiming to raise funds to acquire the Kunshan Vientiane City project. The second was announced on July 9, intending to acquire Hangzhou Xiaoshan Vientiane City, Shenyang Changbai Vientiane City, and Zibo Vientiane City projects.

According to the latest announcement, the first round of expansion work is still progressing as planned; the second round requires approval from the National Development and Reform Commission, approval of the fund change registration by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, review and approval of the fund product change application by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and related asset-backed securities applications, which can only be implemented after approval by the fund unit holders’ meeting.

China Resources Land is committed to advancing this, and looking ahead, the realization of the expansion is only a matter of time.

According to China Resources Land’s latest plan, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the company will promote the scale of public REITs to exceed 60 billion yuan. As a reserve for expansion resources, by the end of 2025, China Resources Land will have 98 self-operated shopping centers, and by the end of 2030, the number will increase to 127.

Disclaimer: The content and data of this article are compiled by Opinion based on publicly available information and do not constitute investment advice. Please verify before use.