A securities trading hall in Fuyang, China, in December 2023.
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BEIJING – China’s top securities regulator vowed to take “strict” action against market manipulators while saying protecting retail investors was a “core task.”
The question of fairness, especially in a market dominated by smaller investors, is our core task, said Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, at a joint press conference with the country’s other leading economic and financial planners.
Openness, fairness and justice must be the most important principles in the capital market, Wu added, speaking on the sidelines of the country’s annual parliamentary meetings with other top Chinese business and financial sector leaders.
“China’s market is big but not strong,” he said, stressing that investors need to be better protected.
Beijing has stepped up measures to support its battered stock markets in recent weeks. These include tightening regulatory restrictions on the rapidly booming quant trading industry and curbing short selling, changing the top securities regulator and stock purchases by a “national team”.
The appointment of market veteran Wu Qing as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission in early February preceded restrictions on quant traders.
Wu is known as the “Broker Butcher” because of his crackdown on traders in his previous roles as acting vice mayor of China’s largest financial center Shanghai and chairman of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
The Hang Seng Index, a benchmark of Hong Kong listings that includes many offshore stocks from China, has posted four straight annual losses, while the CSI300 index of the largest mainland-listed blue chips has posted three straight years of losses.
With the mainland real estate market in the doldrums and stock markets in free fall, desperate mainland investors had looked elsewhere for better returns despite strict capital controls.
At last year’s parliamentary session, Beijing announced an overhaul of financial and technology regulation by setting up party-led commissions to oversee the two sectors, as Xi Jinping won an unprecedented third term as president.
This is a developing story. Please check back for further updates.
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2024-03-06 08:52:18
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