Alibaba Group Holding gained approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange to proceed with a proposed spin-off of a warehouse park in mainland China, two years after the tech giant withdrew the listing plan of its logistics arm Cainiao.

The e-commerce giant said it could separate an infrastructure real estate investment trust (Reit) and list it on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, with the underlying asset being the Jiaxing Park, a logistics and warehousing infrastructure hub in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, according to an exchange filing on Monday.

The move marks a significant pivot for Alibaba’s logistics assets. In March 2024, it withdrew its application for a US$1 billion-plus Hong Kong initial public offering for Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, opting instead to offer US$3.75 billion to buy out minority shareholders. At the time, chairman Joe Tsai cited unfavourable market conditions and a desire to double down on strategic synergies with Alibaba’s core e-commerce business. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

The current Reit structure offers a different path to monetisation. According to the filing, the Reit, officially named the CICC Cainiao Logistics Warehouse Infrastructure Reit, would be managed by CICC Fund and was designed to securitise the Jiaxing Park through an asset-backed special purpose plan.

Upon completion of the spin-off, the relevant project companies would cease to be subsidiaries of Alibaba, and their financial results would no longer be consolidated into the firm’s financial statements.

This plan comes amid a wave of supportive policies from Chinese regulators. In a document released in December, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) emphasised its support for issuing commercial Reits that aligned with policy and possessed commercial attributes, aiming to improve listing efficiency. On Friday, the CSRC website revealed that four commercial Reit products had already received registration approval.