China's securities regulator on Friday announced specific dates to scrap foreign ownership controls in China's financial sector.

 

China's securities regulator on Friday announced specific dates to scrap foreign ownership controls in China's financial sector, in the latest sign of the country's unwavering commitment to financial opening-up.

Foreign ownership limits on futures firms will be scrapped starting January 1, 2020, said Gao Li, a spokesperson for the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

The removal of foreign shareholding controls is scheduled for April 1, 2020 in the case of fund management firms, and December 1, 2020 for securities firms, Gao said. 

The announcement, a step toward honoring the government's opening-up pledge, shows that China's efforts to open up its financial market have hastened, Wu Jinduo, head of fixed income at the research institute of Great Wall Securities, told the Global Times on Friday. 

The setting of specific dates follows a move earlier this year to quicken the pace of financial deregulation. 

In July, the Office of Financial Stability and Development Committee under the State Council unveiled a raft of policies to deepen financial opening-up. Among them were plans to remove foreign ownership limits on brokerages, fund management firms and futures firms in 2020, one year ahead of the original schedule.

The limit removals will boost the country's equities market, Wu said. CSRC has long been advocating for more medium- to long-term funds into the market. To this end, securities and fund firms have moved toward being more long-term earnings oriented, and mutual funds have been pushed to be included in tax-deferred commercial pension investment schemes, Wu explained.

Aside from the drive in the home market, the scrapping of foreign ownership limits will surely help channel long-term international funds into China's capital market, she added.

Futures shares on the Chinese mainland market closed up 1.77 percent on Friday, while securities stocks ended 1.71 percent higher, according to data from online financial information provider Hithink Flush Information Network.

By comparison, the flagship Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.88 percent to close at 2,973.66 points.