China continues to open capital markets to foreign investors

BEIJING, Sept.6 (Reuters) – China will further open up its capital markets to foreign investors, the country’s leading securities regulator said on Monday, adding that it will continue pragmatic cross-border cooperation to regulate Chinese companies listed on the bank. abroad.

Global investors have been frightened in recent months by a wave of Chinese regulations targeting sectors ranging from tech to private tuition. The US plan to kick non-compliant Chinese companies from US stock exchanges has fueled concerns.

“Openness and cooperation are the inevitable trend of integrated development of global financial markets,” Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) Yi Huiman said at a conference hosted by the World Federation. scholarships.

China is exploring other measures, including expanding the scope of the Stock Connect program linking China and Hong Kong and improving the Shanghai-London Stock Connect program, Yi said in a speech on the China-Hong Kong website. CSRC.

At the same time, the CSRC will conduct “pragmatic” cooperation in areas such as oversight of overseas listed Chinese companies, cross-border auditing and law enforcement, he added.

Yi said that given the intertwined global markets, governments should let go of the “zero-sum game” mentality, as businesses and investors share in both the boom and the disaster.

Global financial centers should facilitate cross-border financing, “rather than becoming the platforms and tools that governments use to sanction other countries,” Yi said, not to mention the United States.

Yi’s speech came a day after CSRC Vice President Fang Xinghai made similar pledges to further deregulate Chinese markets.

China will expand channels for foreign capital to invest in Chinese stock and futures markets, and further facilitate the issuance of yuan-denominated “Panda bonds” by foreign institutions, Fang said at a separate conference Sunday.

China will also improve domestic listing rules for foreign entities, as well as regulations on overseas listings of Chinese companies, Fang said in a speech also posted on the CSRC website.

Fang also pledged to preserve Hong Kong’s status as a global financial center, saying Beijing supports the listing of domestic companies in Hong Kong.

(This story is passed on to correct a typographical error in the name of the president of the CSRC in the 3rd paragraph)

Reporting by Samuel Shen and Ryan Woo, editing by Timothy Heritage and Alexander Smith

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