China’s financial regulator pledges tough regulation with ‘teeth and thorns’ to prevent systemic risks

The National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) will resolutely follow the spirit of the Central Financial Work Conference, Central Economic Work Conference and the recent two sessions, and carry out regulation using both "teeth and thorns" to ensure that no systemic risks arise, Li Yunze, head of the administration, said on Friday.

The NFRA is committed to following the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics, Li said.

He said the administration will continue to boost the high-quality development of the financial sector, make significant efforts in financial technology, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance, and continuously deepen financial reform and opening-up, according to a press release appeared on the NFRA website on Saturday.

Li made the remarks at a seminar attended by experts on the country's economic and financial situation, it said.

It's reported that eight experts made suggestions on issues including the current economic and financial situation, diffusing financial risks in key sectors, enhancing financial services to serve the real economy, boosting the high-quality development of the financial sector as well as financial oversight.

The NFRA seminar echoed a series of meetings held by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) recently, with a wide range of market participants to solicit suggestions on equities trading, stock risk prevention and high-quality development.

Tian Xuan, vice president of the Tsinghua University's PBC School of Finance, attended both discussions. "There is a consensus among Chinese regulators over the need to ratchet up the confidence of market participants to draw further investment into the equities market," he told the Global Times in a recent interview.

From the perspective of investor concerns, enhancing the quality of listed companies and investment returns is one major task. Meanwhile, authorities should promote a "survival of the fittest" approach in delisting and severely punish illegal behavior including fraud, in line with both the country's Criminal Law and Securities Law, Tian said.

The Central Financial Work Conference held last October in Beijing stressed it is imperative to accelerate the building of a nation with a strong financial sector, elevating the importance of financial reform and opening up to a new level.

With the two sessions just concluding, the top priority for officials at all levels is to carry out policy measures to make sure that various development goals outlined in the Government Work Report will be met, economists said, as officials said thet have plenty of tools at their disposal to shore up economic rebounding.