CSRC Vice Chairman Liu Haoling speaks out recently.

The 2026 Global Investors Conference of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange opened today in Shenzhen, with Liu Haoling, Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, delivering a speech. This is also his first public appearance since taking office at the CSRC in April of this year. Liu Haoling's speech comprehensively showcased the fundamental development of the Chinese economy and capital market, and also conveyed clear and stable policy signals to global investors. From a regulatory perspective, the signals conveyed by Liu Haoling are very clear. He stated that the factors stabilizing the Chinese economy continue to accumulate, and the investment value of the capital market is further highlighted. International institutions and investors are warmly welcomed to seize the opportunities of the times, invest in China, and deepen their involvement in China. This, on one hand, suggests that there may be substantive actions from the regulatory side. Liu Haoling's speech aligns with the positioning of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Global Investors Conference as a benchmark for "bringing in and going out" in the Chinese capital market. The conference, which is held annually, brings together regulatory officials, institutional investors, representatives from listed companies, and experts and scholars from around the world. Revealing four core messages Both as a debut and as a conference aimed at global investors, what key information did Liu Haoling's speech provide? A review by Caixin found four core increments. Foreign funds have increased their participation in the Chinese capital market. On one hand, foreign funds steadily entered the Chinese stock market through various channels. As of now, the total market value of A-shares held by various overseas investors exceeds 4 trillion yuan, making them important participants in the Chinese capital market. On the other hand, there are currently 27 well-known international financial institutions that have established controlling or wholly-owned securities and futures fund institutions in China. The fundamentals of the Chinese capital market continue to improve. Firstly, the Chinese macroeconomy is steadily moving forward, achieving a good start in the "15th Five-Year Plan." Secondly, the total market value of A-shares is around 120 trillion yuan, with over 200 top companies valued at over a trillion yuan each. The performance of listed companies continues to improve, with a total dividend of around 2.55 trillion yuan in 2025, reaching a new high. Thanks to various measures, the continuous stability of the market, confidence, and expectations have achieved significant results. Regulatory authorities are making multi-dimensional efforts to enhance the investment value of the capital market. For instance, led by reforms on the financing side, efforts are being made to foster and develop a group of high-quality listed companies. The establishment of a market environment where long-term funds are willing to come, stay, and develop is being accelerated. Various parties are implementing a "combination punch" stability policy to build a dike against risks in the capital market, optimize stability mechanisms and tools, strengthen cross-market, cross-industry, and cross-border risk monitoring, among others. Looking ahead, regulatory authorities will take more substantive measures to promote market development, which is worth looking forward to. The CSRC will continue to deepen comprehensive reform in capital market financing, plan to introduce more impactful reform and opening-up measures, and respond to the uncertainties of the international environment with collaborative development and win-win cooperation. Key points of the speech: Continuously conveying clear and stable signals to the market If these "incremental information" pieces are put together into a complete puzzle, one would find that there is a logical undertone in Liu Haoling's entire speech, which is actually directly addressing and responding to the core "Three Soul Questions" of foreign capital: first, where is the anchor of confidence in the Chinese capital market amid the confusion? Second, how does one view the investment return of A-shares as a core asset? Third, how are the treatment of foreign funds under internationalization being implemented? In his speech, Liu Haoling first shared the foundation of the Chinese capital market, which is also a summary of the current fundamental situation, namely the accelerated advancement of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, the strong resilience of the Chinese economy and the momentum towards new development. Liu Haoling clearly stated that in the face of the complex and changing domestic and international situation, under the strong leadership and scientific planning of the Central Committee of the Party, factors that stabilize the Chinese economy are steadily accumulating, and market confidence and expectations are becoming increasingly consolidated. What does this mean? The stable foundation of the Chinese capital market is rooted in the strong resilience of the Chinese economy and the scientific planning of the Party Central Committee. This can be understood from three dimensions: Firstly, the Party Central Committee has scientifically formulated the "15th Five-Year Plan," making strategic arrangements for the stable development of the Chinese economy. The "15th Five-Year Plan" proposes accelerating high-level technological self-reliance, leading the development of new quality productive forces, adhering to expanding domestic demand, vigorously boosting consumption, and expanding effective investment, continually conveying clear and stable signals to the market, significantly boosting the confidence of foreign investment in China. Secondly, leading big-country relations with head-of-state diplomacy provides more certainty and stability for economic and trade cooperation. This year, China has achieved fruitful results in many bilateral diplomatic efforts, particularly during the recent visit of the U.S. President to China, where the two national leaders agreed to build a "constructive and stable strategic relationship between China and the United States" as a new positioning, providing strategic guidance for Sino-U.S. relations and receiving widespread acclaim from both nations and the international community. Thirdly, China's macroeconomy is steadily moving forward, achieving a good start in the "15th Five-Year Plan." The GDP grew by 5% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, domestic market demand has continued to improve, new quality productive forces are being cultivated and strengthened, fully demonstrating the ability to adapt and break through challenges, injecting more certainty into the world economy and creating more new opportunities. Key points of the speech: Cooperating with all parties to implement policy "combination punches" Liu Haoling pointed out that the comprehensive reform measures in the Chinese capital market financing are steady and effective, the overall market valuation is within a reasonable range, foreign investors' willingness to allocate to high-quality Chinese assets continues to increase, and the investment value is further highlighted. Reforms on the financing side continue to drive the improvement of the quality of listed companies, with a series of reforms such as the "1+6" reform measures on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, the "Six Mergers and Acquisitions" policy, and the deepening of reforms on the Growth Enterprise Market taking effect. The capital market's ability to serve new quality productive forces and support enterprise financing development is steadily increasing, and the structure of listed companies is continuously optimized. As of now, the total number of listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges exceeds 5,500, with a total market value of A-shares around 120 trillion yuan, including over 200 top companies valued at over a trillion yuan each. As listed company performance continues to improve, the investor return mechanism is also being further improved, with the total cash dividend of listed companies reaching about 2.55 trillion yuan in 2025, hitting a new historical high. On the funding side, regulatory authorities are accelerating the creation of a market environment where long-term funds are willing to come, stay, and develop. Under the coordination and command of the Central Financial Committee, a series of systems conducive to "long-term money and long-term investment" are being solidly advanced, with the scale and proportion of various types of long-term funds such as pension funds, insurance funds, social security funds, and public funds steadily increasing, improving the structure of market investors, and becoming an important support for maintaining stable market operation. The "constant anchor" of strategic layout has stabilized market expectations, but to truly transform the macro dividends into real money for investors, regulatory authorities must rely on their "meticulous efforts" in the institutional ecology. This leads to the second major focus of Liu Haoling's speech: implementing policy "combination punches." He mentioned that regulatory authorities are focusing on building a dike against risks in the capital market, actively cooperating with the central bank and relevant institutions to optimize stability mechanisms and tools, strengthen cross-market, cross-industry, and cross-border risk monitoring, rallying forces, cooperating and exerting efforts together, and continuously achieving significant results in stabilizing the market, confidence, and expectations. Key points of the speech: Continuous steady inflow of overseas funds It is due to the changes on the domestic financing side and the funds side that the Chinese capital market triggered reactions in the foreign capital circle. Liu Haoling introduced that the pace of high-level institutional opening in the capital market is steady, a series of opening measures are taking effect, significantly enhancing the confidence of long-term investor allocations, and overseas funds are continuing to steadily flow into China. Since the beginning of this year, foreign funds have steadily flowed into the Chinese stock market through various channels. As of now, the total market value of A-shares held by various overseas investors exceeds 4 trillion yuan, making them important participants in the Chinese capital market. In terms of institutional opening, the restrictions on foreign shareholding in the securities, futures, and fund management industries were lifted in 2020. Currently, 27 well-known international financial institutions have established controlling or wholly-owned securities, futures, and fund management institutions in China. At the same time, there are also some high-quality Chinese institutions going overseas and establishing operational institutions abroad. In terms of market and product opening, the optimization plan for the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) system was formulated and implemented in 2025, further optimizing access management and facilitating investment operations. The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect mechanism continues to be optimized, and the capacity of domestic and foreign ETFs to be mutually linked is steadily expanding. By the end of 2025, the coverage rates of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the Hong Kong Stock Connect have both exceeded 90% and 85%, respectively, with steady and active two-way trading, and the convenience of cross-border investment for domestic and foreign investors has continued to improve. Regarding overseas listings, the channels for overseas financing remain open. Since the implementation of the "Trial Measures for the Overseas Issuance and Listing of Securities of Domestic Enterprises" in 2023, the oversight of overseas listing applications has been overall stable and orderly. As of April 2026, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has completed the filing of 418 domestic enterprises' applications for initial overseas issuance and listing, supporting enterprises in using both markets and resources effectively. This article was originally published by "Caixin," translated by Li Fo for GMT8.