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Capital market reforms to 'help drive economic growth'

By Li Xiaowei (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-09-22 08:46

"Therefore, we must accelerate the development of capital markets to increase the flexibility and stability of our financial system and promote sustained, fast and sound economic growth," he said. Capital markets should facilitate a change in the pattern of economic growth and industrial upgrading, promote independent innovation and the development of high-tech companies, and support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, Tu remarked.

According to China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), the nation's economic structure will be upgraded by increasing the role of the service sector, while resources will be more efficiently utilized. Capital markets should also enable investors, especially public investors, to share the benefits of economic growth, and should help enhance competitiveness, Tu added.

China's capital markets and the nation's securities industry have gradually opened up over the past decade, Tu said. By the end of July 2006, there were seven joint-venture (JV) securities firms and 23 JV fund management companies. Furthermore, since the launch of the qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) scheme in 2002, the number of QFIIs has grown to 42, with their total investment quota nearing US$8.