Abstract:

With the development of the Chinese forestry industry and the acceleration of ecological restoration projects,the gap between forestry capital investment and demand is growing.The problems between forestry investment and financing mechanisms have become increasingly prominent,which is a major obstacle to the further development of forestry in China.Real estate investment trusts(REITs),as financial products with high liquidity,low investment risk and relatively stable returns,can revitalize the assets,broaden social capital investment channels and enable the capital market to efficiently serve the real economy.New regulations on REITs were intensively introduced since April 2020,which marks the official start of real estate trust fund pilot projects in China.Since the release of the policy,major fund companies have been actively looking for high-quality projects.As of November 2020,several fund companies planning for IPO of REITs have reported to the National Development and Reform Commission,China's top economic planner.A large number of REITs products will be available soon.As a result,a new blue ocean is about to emerge.However,due to the current requirements,forestry projects do not yet have the conditions for the large-scale public offering of REITs.To provide enlightenment and policy recommendations for further broadening the financing channels of China's forestry and reducing financing costs,this study,from the perspective of the capital market,studies the feasibility and necessity of using REITs for forestry industry financing by analyzing the characteristics of REITs products and the financing dilemma and development trend of the Chinese forestry industry.

Key words: forestry industry, REITs, financing channels, forestry investment, asset securitization, green finance