China supports Belt and Road Initiative with capital market reform

BEIJING - China's securities regulator has reformed the capital market to support the Belt and Road Initiative.

Since 2014, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has taken measures to facilitate mergers and acquisitions of listed companies, CSRC vice chairman Jiang Yang said Tuesday.

The commission has streamlined approval of merger and acquisition. At present, 90 percent of mergers and acquisitions of listed companies do not need CSRC approvals, Jiang said.

CSRC has also reformed the pricing mechanism, increasing the number of payment instruments for mergers and acquisitions, and reinforced supervision, he added.

"Those measures proved to be quite effective, as mergers and acquisitions have become a most efficient and vibrant part of the capital market," he said.

Between 2013 and 2016, listed Chinese companies completed 349 cross-border mergers and acquisitions with total value of 386 billion yuan ($57 billion).

CSRC will continue to deepen market-oriented reform for mergers and acquisitions in support of the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

The commission will step up building a multi-layer capital market to support the equity financing and encourage companies from countries along the Belt and Road to issue yuan-denominated bonds in China.

CSRC will also support domestic financial institutions to expand their business networks to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.