China wants top quality market controls within the next five years to promote development and stimulate market vitality.
It says the controls will create orderly, open competition and complete regulations and sound governance, according to a plan issued Sunday by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council.
The proposed "high-standard market system" includes 51 measures covering industries such as finance, health care and education.
Its five main objectives are consolidating basic market institutions, enhancing market environments and quality, improving oversight mechanisms, efficient allocation of production factors and better reforms and openness, the regulators said.
The plan "presented the upgrade transformation from scale-expansion development to focus on improvement of quality and efficiency," Dong Dengxin, director of institute of financial securities in Wuhan University, told Beike Caijing.
The negative list for foreign investment will be shortened while its scope of industries that encourage foreign investment will be expanded, according to the plan.
Additionally, the establishment of foreign-controlled joint venture banks and securities companies, as well as wholly foreign-owned or joint-venture asset management companies will be encouraged. Measures allowing foreign institutions to issue bonds in China's bond market will be drafted.
Nationwide, China will introduce a negative list regarding market access within a system of domestic company registration information. It will also introduce a personal bankruptcy system to test locations, according to the statement.
Shenzhen will see its first personal bankruptcy law come into effect March 1, according to public information.
As a result of a recent antimonopoly crackdown, authorities will tighten up regulations for new business sectors such as online and "sharing economy" companies. It will establish oversight to tackle potentially unfair behavior.
"The high-standard market system has its significance especially when the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about new challenges to the market development," Jiang Xiaojuan, head of the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, said.
The plan calls for more changes to the registration-based initial public offering system and establishing a stable delisting system. Meanwhile, it suggested increasing the equity investment ratio of long-term funds.
Policymakers are shifting their attention to investment in the market, Tao Jin, vice director of Suning Institution of Finance, told Beike Caijing.
The plan also highlights judicial protection for property rights and encourages innovation.
