This paper examines the role of institutional investors in shaping pricing dynamics within China’s nascent infrastructure Real Estate Investment Trust market. Introduced in 2021, China’s REITs have rapidly gained policy and market attention as a tool for financing large-scale infrastructure projects through equity-based securitisation. Unlike mature REIT markets, China’s infrastructure REITs are characterised by a high concentration of institutional ownership dominated by state-owned financial institutions. Using panel data on first 9 REITs from May 2021 to April 2024, we find that institutional ownership significantly boosts the premium to net asset value. This effect operates primarily through two channels: reduced market liquidity and increased idiosyncratic return volatility, likely reflecting institutions’ trading activity and informational advantages. The findings highlight how institutional capital serves as a confidence signal in China’s emerging REITs ecosystem. The study contributes to the global REITs literature by offering insights from an emerging market context and provides policy recommendations to guide China’s REITs market development toward greater transparency, diversity, and long-term resilience.

本研究聚焦中国契约型公募 REITs 底层资产所有权保留程度对收益分配公平性与效率的影响机制，基于2021年至2025年6月中国68只公募REITs面板数据及美国15只基础设施 REITs 案例，采用文献分析案例深描实证建模与跨市场对比方法，探讨资产所有权与经营权在不同分离程度下对项目收益激励设计及风险的影响。 研究构建了“所有权保留程度 - 治理机制 - 收益分配”分析框架，得出以下发现：所有权保留程度低的REITs 收益效率显著高于保留程度高的类型，所有权保留比例的降低对营运现金流FFO分配率具有显著正向影响。中国契约型架构下原始权益人通过隐性所有权干预运营，导致中小投资者保护不足，而美国公司型 REITs 中独立董事占比的制衡机制具有借鉴价值。政府参与型 REITs 存在短期收益波动与长期战略增值的平衡难题，产权类 REITs 中所有权保留对收益分配的抑制效应弱于特许经营类。 研究提出创新建议推动基础设施 REITs 所有权保留分层调整机制，完善商业地产REITs 试点的“所有权 - 运营权”分离框架，构建公司型 REITs 与契约型并行制度等。 本研究揭示了契约型架构下所有权保留对收益的作用机理，为中国 REITs 治理优化存量资产盘活及监管设计提供理论依据与实践参考。