rmb File photo:VCG

China held an important meeting over the weekend to study safeguarding the stability of the country's bond market, saying it has "zero tolerance" for illegal acts, after the media has exposed recently growing cases of violations in bond trading. 

At the special meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Committee of the State Council, which was presided over by Vice-Premier Liu He on Saturday, the need to regulate the development of the bond market and maintain its stability was highlighted.

The meeting told regulatory bodies to uphold a "zero tolerance" attitude towards violations in a bid to promote market fairness. 

This stance includes the need to investigate various illegal acts such as fraudulent cases, disclosure of misinformation, malicious transfer of assets and misappropriation of funds. It is necessary to impose severe punishment on all kinds of debt evasion acts to protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors.

The meeting also highlighted the need to strengthen self-discipline and supervision within the industry, and it urged market entities such as bond issuers and their shareholders, along with financial institutions and intermediaries, to strictly abide by laws, regulations and market rules

The meeting emphasized the need to strengthen coordination and cooperation among various departments to establish a well-rounded risk management mechanism, maintain reasonable and sufficient liquidity in the market, and avoid systemic risks to the financial system.

The meeting also called for continued efforts to deepen reforms. This includes the need to improve the market structure and enrich products and services in the bond market as well as the necessity to improve operational quality and efficiency of state-owned enterprises.


Newspaper headline: Regulators to heighten scrutiny of bond markets as violations grow