After the pilot program of real estate trust registration was implemented, Beijing has once again opened the gate of equity trust registration. Recently, CITIC Trust successfully completed the equity trust property registration of the "CITIC Trust-Oriental Garden Bankruptcy and Reorganization Special Service Trust" at the Chaoyang District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Beijing, marking the official implementation of the first equity trust property registration in the country. In this regard, industry experts said that the launch of Beijing's real estate and equity trust registration pilot projects is an important step to further revitalize my country's trust assets. The issuance of relevant documents will help promote the development of wealth management service trusts represented by family trusts and promote the trust industry to return to its original origin.

  The first equity trust property registration is implemented

  CITIC Trust stated that after receiving the notice from the regulatory authorities, CITIC Trust quickly deployed and promoted the "CITIC Trust Oriental Garden Bankruptcy and Reorganization Special Service Trust" as its first pilot project. With the support of multiple parties, the registration work was completed in just 2 days, and the equity held was clearly marked as trust property on the business license of the target company.

  In the view of industry experts, the successful implementation of equity trust property registration has effectively solved the pain points of the industry, strengthened the independence of trust property, and provided clear operational guidance and solid institutional guarantees for trust companies to carry out equity trust business. This innovative practice not only marks the transition from "institutional design" to "practice implementation", but also lays a solid foundation for the improvement of my country's trust property registration system and the high-quality development of the trust industry.

  The so-called equity trust refers to a trust business in which the principal transfers its equity to a trust institution or entrusts the trust institution to contribute capital and shares, and the trust institution manages, uses and disposes the equity in the name of the trustee in accordance with the will of the principal. Equity trust property registration refers to the act of the principal transferring the equity he or she legally holds to the trust institution or entrust the trust institution to contribute capital, applying to the company registration authority for shareholder change registration or company establishment registration and publicizing the trust property rights in accordance with the law.

  In fact, in response to the requirements of the State Council's "Work Plan for Supporting Beijing to Deepen the Construction of Comprehensive Demonstration Zones for Deepening the Opening of the National Service Industry", the Beijing Regulatory Bureau of the State Administration for Financial Supervision (hereinafter referred to as the "Beijing Financial Supervision Bureau") and the Beijing Market Supervision Administration jointly issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Registration of Equity Trust Property (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") on April 10. China Trust Registration Co., Ltd. also issued a supporting notice on April 14 to handle the registration certificate of equity trust property.

  According to the "Notice", the process of registering equity trust property is divided into three steps: one is to apply for pre-registration of trust products; the second is to sign trust documents; and the third is to apply for equity changes or establishment registration. The reporter learned that the Beijing Financial Regulatory Bureau guided trust companies under Beijing to register equity trust property, and the market supervision department marked the business license of the business entity. The "Notice" will be trialed for one year from the date of its publication.

  Some industry experts analyzed the "Notice" pointed out that the highlight of the new regulations is that "trust company holding" is clearly marked in the industrial and commercial registration documents. This not only solves the problem of trust property registration and forms public disclosure effect, but also avoids the reputation risks of trust companies. In addition, the equity trust registration pilot is expected to activate the asset allocation demand of high-net-worth individuals. The management of equity through a trust structure not only ensures property independence and security, but also realizes tax planning and intergenerational inheritance.

  The first order for real estate trust property registration has been completed

  In December 2024, the Beijing Financial Regulatory Bureau, in conjunction with the Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Commission, jointly issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Real Estate Trust Property Registration (Trial)", taking the lead in opening up the real estate trust property registration path in the country.

  On April 2, 2025, Guotou Taikang Trust and Foreign Trade Trust under Beijing completed the first real estate trust property registration at the real estate registration centers in Tongzhou District and Changping District, respectively, achieving a "zero breakthrough". Specifically, Guotou Taikang Trust has set up a real estate trust for an elderly man and his autistic child in Beijing to help the elderly realize the goals of "living care" and "protecting children behind their backs", and promote trust to become a carrier of family affection and responsibility; Foreign Trade Trust has professionally customized real estate trust for a middle-aged citizen in Beijing, registered logistics and warehousing facilities as trust property, and targeted 50% of the trust income for charitable donations according to his wishes, building a four-in-one trust service model of "real estate + charity + pension + inheritance" in the new era.

  "Tongzhou District and Changping District Real Estate Registration Center completed the 'double first-order' real estate trust property registration project at the same time. This innovative practice marks another breakthrough progress in real estate trust property registration work." Zhu Yansheng, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Beijing Financial Regulatory Bureau, introduced at a press conference held on April 8 that the Beijing Financial Regulatory Bureau has stepped up efforts to promote the implementation of practical cases, strengthen communication and cooperation with the Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Committee and other relevant departments, and work together to solve problems. At the same time, trust companies under their jurisdiction are encouraged to take the lead and speed up the implementation of the first case under the premise of compliance with the law.

  Lin Wei, assistant mayor of Tongzhou District, Beijing and special government expert, said that the pilot case was implemented in Tongzhou District in the form of a special needs trust for the beneficiary of autistic patients, which not only marked a solid step in the construction of the global wealth management center in Tongzhou District, but also showed that real estate trusts are "inclusive wealth management carriers." Jia Xin, director of the Changping Branch of the Beijing Planning and Natural Resources Commission, believes that the successful implementation of this case not only revitalizes existing assets, but also achieves multiple goals such as pension planning, charitable donations, and asset value-added management.

  Trust property registration system is becoming more and more perfect

  The latest data released by the China Trust Industry Association shows that as of the end of the second quarter of 2024, the balance of trust assets was 27 trillion yuan, and the trust industry has become one of the important financial sub-industry in my country. However, the trust industry has not yet established a complete trust registration system, which is not conducive to standardizing the information disclosure of trust products, nor is it conducive to the recognition of trust property ownership relations and the market-oriented transfer of trust products. However, in recent years, relevant departments have vigorously promoted the improvement and perfection of the trust property registration system.

  At the end of 2023, the State Council issued an approval on the "Work Plan for Supporting Beijing to Deepen the Construction of Comprehensive Demonstration Zone for the Expansion of National Service Industry", and agreed in principle to the "Work Plan for Supporting Beijing to Deepen the Construction of Comprehensive Demonstration Zone for the Expansion of National Service Industry". Among them, the financial services field proposes to explore the establishment of a trust property registration mechanism for real estate, equity, etc. as trust property under the premise that risks are controllable. This provides favorable policy support for the inclusion of equity, real estate and other real estate into the trust plan.

  In January 2025, the General Office of the State Council forwarded the "Several Opinions on Strengthening Supervision, Preventing Risks and Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Trust Industry" of the State Administration for Financial Regulation and proposed to establish and improve the trust property registration system and promote the implementation of non-funded trust property registration.

  In the view of industry experts, trust property registration, as an important supplement to China's civil and commercial registration system, is an important institutional arrangement to give full play to the flexibility and functional advantages of trust and ensure the independence of trust property. Although the current Trust Law establishes the principle of independence of trust property, it lacks a supporting registration mechanism, resulting in the vague ownership of trust property rights and doubts about the effectiveness of risk isolation. The implementation of the pilot program for real estate and equity trust registration in Beijing is an important step in further revitalizing my country's more than 20 trillion yuan of trust assets.

  "There are three 'stumbling obstacles' in real estate trusts, namely the lack of operating rules of the trust registration system, the issue of trust taxation, and the transfer of trust property, and these issues are interconnected." Zhou Xiaoming, co-director of the Center for Finance and Law Research, Tsinghua University School of Law, said.

  In the view of the experts interviewed, although my country's trust property registration system has been implemented, it still faces challenges at the specific operational level. At present, the scope of application of the "Notice" is limited to limited liability companies registered within the jurisdiction of Beijing. Regional restrictions are still acceptable, but the use of the form of a limited company as a shareholding platform, especially the holding of the controlling rights of the limited company by a trust will cause major changes in the trust company's risk preference, compliance risk control, decision-making management, etc., and the trust company needs to adjust the traditional architecture design. In addition, how to reasonably solve the tax burden in the equity trust process is also an important issue that needs to be solved urgently.

  "It is recommended to improve the trust property registration system from the legislative level, clarify the specific operating rules, procedures and requirements for trust registration, so that it can be effectively connected with the current real estate registration system. At the same time, the Trust Law and the Interim Regulations on Real Estate Registration and other relevant laws and regulations are revised to provide a clearer legal basis for real estate trust property registration. In response to the repeated taxation issue in the trust property registration process, it is recommended to introduce a special trust tax policy to clarify the tax handling rules for trust property in the establishment, existence and termination stages to avoid repeated taxation." Dr. Zhou Ping of CITIC Trust Risk Management Department said.

[Editor in charge: Nie Jing]