General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed that deepening financial reform and opening-up is essential both for the improvement of financial services and for the prevention of financial risks. As required in the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress, the greater the difficulties and challenges we face, the more important it is for us to go further in reform, remove institutional barriers, and boost internal driving forces for development. In line with the overall arrangements of the Financial Stability and Development Committee (FSDC) under the State Council and the principle of “l(fā)aunching a reform measure when conditions are ripe”, FSDC members, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, have conducted in-depth research and will roll out the following 11 financial reform measures in the near future.
1. The Measures for the Regulatory Assessment of Commercial Banks’ Financial Services for Micro and Small Enterprises will be introduced to improve the incentive and restraint mechanism for the provision of financial services for micro and small enterprises (MSEs). Assessments will be made in terms of credit allocation, specialized internal institution building, implementation of regulatory policies, and innovation of products and services, with differentiated assessment indicators put in place. Relevant requirements for commercial banks will be implemented so that those who have fulfilled their duties will not be held liable for losses. MSE loans will be priced on a differentiated basis. More importance will be attached to the application of assessment results.
2. The Work Plan for Deepening the Reform and Replenishing the Capital of Small and Medium-sized Banks will be released to further push ahead with the reform of small and medium-sized banks and to speed up their capital replenishment. Based on market- and law-based principles, funds will be raised through multiple channels, while capital replenishment will be combined with the optimization of corporate governance. In addition, the Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Rural Credit Cooperatives will be formulated, which is aimed at keeping their county-level legal person status generally stable, enhancing positive incentives, and coordinating reform with risk prevention.
3. The Guidelines on Performance Appraisal of Government-backed Financing Guarantee and Re-guarantee Institutions will be released. It is aimed at prompting government-backed financing guarantee institutions at all levels to prioritize support for MSEs and the agricultural sector and to lower the guarantee fees, so that they will fully play their role in risk sharing and help enterprises resume production and pull through the difficulties.  
4. Four regulations, such as the Administrative Measures for Registration-based Initial Public Offerings on ChiNext (For Trial Implementation), and eight major rules, such as the Rules for the Listing of Stocks on ChiNext, will be introduced. They are aimed at advancing the reform of the ChiNext board, launching the pilot registration-based system, and establishing or improving the supporting rules, such as those for the arrangements of the registration-based system, ongoing supervision over ChiNext-listed enterprises, and the sponsorship of offerings on ChiNext.  
5. The Guidelines on Companies Listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations Switching Boards for Listing will be released to accelerate the reform of the so-called “new third board”. Active but prudent steps will be taken to launch public offerings, while qualified enterprises will enter the selected tier, and investments by publicly offered funds will be allowed. A mechanism will be established for companies listed on the new third board to switch to other boards for listing, with basic requirements laid down for the scope, conditions, and procedures, so that the role of the new third board as a transitional link will be brought into full play to strengthen the connection between multiple tiers of the capital market.  
6. The Administrative Measures for Standardized Commercial Papers will be introduced to regulate the mechanism of financing via standardized commercial papers. Measures will be taken to support bond market circulation of products backed by commercial paper packages and to promote investments in standardized commercial papers by asset management products, so that the bond market will play its part in investment pricing, regulatory arbitrage will be reduced, and better services will be provided for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as supply chain financing.
7. The Rules for the Recognition of Standard Debt Assets will be released to implement the requirements of the new regulations on asset management. The scope and criteria for the recognition of standard debt assets will be defined; a mechanism will be established to recognize the conversion of non-standard debt assets into standard debt assets; and transitional arrangements will be made for existing debt assets that fall into neither standard nor non-standard categories so as to steadily advance the transformation of asset management businesses and enhance the ability of the financial sector to serve the real economy.
8. The Guidelines on the Participation of Foreign Governmental Agencies and International Development Institutions in Bond Businesses will be released, which will further improve the requirements for information disclosures of panda bonds, set detailed rules for the issuance of panda bonds, and encourage issuers with authentic needs for RMB funds to issue bonds in an effort to steadily promote the development of the panda bond market.
9. Efforts will be made to further open up the credit rating sector to both domestic and foreign agencies, allowing qualified international rating agencies as well as private rating agencies to conduct bond credit ratings in China and also encouraging domestic rating agencies to expand their international business.
10. The certified public accountant (CPA) industry will be guided to pursue well-regulated and orderly development. Accounting firms will be urged to improve their quality control systems, and implementation plans will be made to adjust the management of their practices and to improve audit quality effectively so that the overall management of accounting firms will be improved. Moreover, administrative measures will be introduced for the record filing of accounting firms participating in the securities service industry, with the procedures of qualification review and approval abolished for such participation.
11. The Opinions on Strengthening Administrative Penalties for Illegal Financial Conduct will be introduced. Based on the current legal framework and in line with the principle that penalties should be commensurate with the gravity of the offense, the Opinions specifies the criteria for imposing penalties per incident on financial institutions for illegal conduct and the criteria for determining illegal gains. Financial institutions and intermediaries as well as individuals responsible for the illegal conduct will be strictly held accountable according to the law, while efforts will be intensified to crack down on illegal financial conduct so as to effectively deter law breakers and protect the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers.             

                                                                          

Office of the State Council Financial Stability and Development Committee
                                                                                                                                                                            May 27, 2020