The China Securities Regulatory Commission published its priorities for implementing the Communist Party of China Central Committee’s recommendations for China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, focusing on increasing the capital market system’s “inclusiveness and adaptability” and strengthening a market function that better balances investment and financing. It framed the agenda around a new round of capital market reform aimed at expanding direct financing, better supporting technology-driven growth, improving investor outcomes, strengthening supervision and risk prevention, and advancing institutional opening-up. Key measures highlighted include more accommodating issuance, listing and mergers and acquisitions rules for technology firms with high research and development needs and longer profitability cycles, deeper reform of the STAR Market and ChiNext, and a broader product and market system spanning private equity and venture capital, a more layered bond market including science and technology and green bonds, and further development of real estate investment trusts and asset securitisation. It also set out plans to improve listed companies’ quality and investment value through more flexible refinancing, strengthened incentives and constraints, higher cash dividends and share buybacks, and a reinforced normalised delisting regime, noting that cash dividends to investors totalled CNY 2.4 trillion in 2024. To foster “long-term money, long-term investment”, the CSRC pointed to long-horizon performance assessment for long-term funds, public fund reforms to align evaluation and incentives with investor interests, and smoother fundraising-investment-management-exit cycles for private equity and venture capital. Supervisory priorities include building a more comprehensive securities and futures regulatory framework, enhanced monitoring of innovation-related risks, greater use of data and artificial intelligence, and tougher enforcement against financial fraud, fraudulent issuance, market manipulation and insider trading. On opening-up, it referenced improvements to the Qualified Foreign Investor regime, cautious expansion of market connectivity, and measures to ease foreign participation, alongside strengthening exchanges and investment institutions and supporting Shanghai and Hong Kong as financial centres, while also signalling legal and investor-protection work including revisions to the Securities Law and the Securities Investment Fund Law and related administrative regulations.
China Securities Regulatory Commission 2025-10-31
China Securities Regulatory Commission sets 15th Five-Year reform agenda to make capital markets more inclusive and attract long-term funds
The China Securities Regulatory Commission's 15th Five-Year Plan prioritizes enhancing capital market inclusiveness, supporting tech-driven growth, and improving investor outcomes. Key measures include reforms for tech firm listings, expanding the STAR Market and ChiNext, and developing a layered bond market. Supervisory priorities focus on a comprehensive regulatory framework, enhanced risk monitoring, tougher enforcement against misconduct, and improving foreign participation and investor protection.