CapitaLand Retail China Trust (SGX: AU8U), or CRCT, has announced an expansion of its investment strategy, hot on the heels of Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust’s (SGX: RW0U) own expansion of its investment mandate. As a recap, CRCT is Singapore’s first and largest China shopping mall REIT. The REIT owns a portfolio of 13 shopping malls located in eight Chinese cities spanning a total gross floor area of around 1 million square metres. CRCT’s investment strategy has now expanded to include office and industrial properties in addition to retail and can include business parks, data centres or integrated developments. This change positions the REIT for better growth prospects as it opens up a wider range of assets for acquisitions. Effectively, CRCT will become CapitaLand Limited’s (SGX: C31) dedicated vehicle for the injection of the group’s China non-lodging-related assets. Almost a week after the REIT expanded its investment mandate, it announced a massive...