Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, answers a question at a press conference during the second session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 6, 2024. (Photo by Wang Zhao/AFP) (Photo: Wang Zhao/AFP) Press) Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)
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BEIJING – China's top securities regulator has vowed to crack down on market manipulators, while stating that protecting small investors was a “core mission.”
Ensuring fairness, especially in a market dominated by small investors, is the regulator's core mission, Wu Qing, head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said Wednesday at a joint news conference with the country's other top economic and financial planners.
Wu identified measures that are necessary to improve the quality of listed companies and increase investment returns. They include: encouraging listed companies to improve the stability, timeliness and predictability of dividends, stricter delisting rules, and expanding inspections of listed companies.
He said that openness, fairness and justice should be the most important principles in the capital market.
“The Chinese market is the second largest market in the world, but it is not as strong,” Wu said, adding that recent market fluctuations have revealed deep-rooted problems.
He said investors need better protection so they can have confidence. He added that it would also attract long-term investors.
At the same press conference, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, pledged to support overseas listings of high-quality Chinese companies.
Troubled markets
Following recent extreme market volatility, Beijing has intensified measures to support beleaguered stock markets in the past few weeks.
These measures include tightening regulations on the rapidly booming quantitative trading industry and limiting short selling, changing the top securities regulator, and buying shares by a “national team.”
Markets veteran Wu's appointment as head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission in early February preceded restrictions on quantitative traders.
Securities Business Hall in Fuyang, China, in December 2023.
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Wu is known as the “butcher broker” for his campaign against traders in his previous positions as acting vice mayor of Shanghai, China's main financial center, and head of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The Hang Seng Index, a benchmark index of Hong Kong listings that includes many overseas Chinese stocks, has posted annual losses for four straight years, while the CSI300 index of the mainland's largest blue-chip listed companies has posted losses for three straight years.
As the mainland's real estate market stagnated and stock markets fell, desperate mainland investors looked elsewhere for better returns despite strict capital controls.
At last year's parliamentary meeting, Beijing announced a comprehensive overhaul of finance and technology regulation by establishing party-led committees to oversee the two sectors as Xi Jinping won an unprecedented third term as president.
