Realty M&A up as finance woes hurt small companies

The Chinese real estate industry will continue to see heightened consolidation till 2020, industry insiders said.

Smaller companies, which are struggling to survive and grow due to tightening finance channels in the wake of tougher regulations, are becoming targets for mergers and acquisitions, or M&A, by bigger players, they said.

Cai Jinqiang, managing director of Citibank, said at an industry forum: "The real estate industry began to quicken the pace of mergers and acquisitions in 2016, and the trend will continue till 2020."