(08 September 2020 – China) China will accelerate the opening up of its capital markets and deepen reforms to attract more foreign investors, China Securities Regulatory Commission vice-chairman Fang Xinghai said.
The regulator will expand the scope of investments allowed in the stock connect programme link with Hong Kong, and allow foreign investors to trade more commodities futures products.
Officials are planning to announce revised rules on qualified foreign institutional investors as soon as possible to increase their “willingness and confidence” to invest in China, he said. Foreigners currently hold only 4.7 percent of Chinese stocks in circulation, way below the more than 30 percent in markets like Japan and South Korea, he said.
China is also opening its financial markets this year to allow Wall Street giants such as Goldman Sachs to take full ownership of ventures in the country.
The participation of foreign investors has helped make the Chinese stock market “more rational” and valuations “more reasonable”, Mr Fang said. The long bear market sessions and short bull runs that have long plagued China are “disappearing”, he said.
The yuan can assume “greater international responsibilities” in the future as China's opening up deepens, he said.