By Jiahui Huang


The Chinese securities regulator's newly appointed head has assured market participants that the regulator will respond to market concerns in a timely manner to strengthen the country's capital markets that have been battered by weak investor confidence.

In a two-day seminar that began Saturday, the new chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Wu Qing, met several market participants, including institutional and retail investors, foreign-funded institutions and private-equity firms, to solicit views on policies that could support the long-term development of the capital market, according to a statement by the CSRC late Monday.

This was the first meeting with market participants by Wu, who replaced Yi Huiman as CSRC head in early February as part of Beijing's attempts to stem the country's prolonged stock-market decline. Before the appointment, Wu was deputy party secretary of Shanghai--one of the city's highest-ranking officials.

China's stock markets have been severely hit as the world's second-largest economy faces slowing growth amid weak consumer sentiment. The benchmark CSI 300 index dropped more than 11% in 2023 and is down 1.3% so far this year.

"The series of meetings is aimed more at gathering advice, reflecting the CSRC's position, but what is key will be the follow-up policies," said ANZ Research senior China strategist Zhaopeng Xing, who didn't participate in the seminar.

Participants at the meeting, including finance and economic experts and companies seeking to go public, focused on current market concerns and policy issues that restrict the capital markets' long-term development, according to the statement.

Some of the recommendations included stricter regulations for new equity offerings and enhancing supervision to improve the quality of listed companies for higher investment returns, according to the statement.

The CSRC said it would welcome all opinions, including taking criticism seriously and dealing with feasible suggestions immediately, and to clearly explain why some suggestions wouldn't work.

Over the next few weeks, investors should keep an eye on the CSRC's coordinated policies with other top official agencies for more signals on what's to come, said Jefferies China economist Shujin Chen, who also wasn't part of the meeting.


Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-20-24 0132ET