The State Council Information Office hosted its "Opening the 15th Five-Year Plan" themed press conference on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at 3:00 PM. The session brought together People's Bank of China Deputy Governor Lu Lei, National Financial Regulatory Administration Deputy Director Cong Lin, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) Vice Chairman Li Chao, and State Administration of Foreign Exchange spokesperson and Deputy Director Li Bin to outline financial sector implementation of the 15th Five-Year Plan and progress toward building a stronger financial system.

Vice Chairman Li Chao expressed gratitude to media professionals for their ongoing attention to capital market reform and CSRC work. He noted that the Party Central Committee and State Council have consistently prioritized capital market development, with each successive five-year plan containing increasingly substantive provisions for this sector. The 15th Five-Year Plan Outline introduces fresh strategic directives to enhance the inclusiveness and adaptability of capital market institutions while refining mechanisms that balance investment and financing functions.

For the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the CSRC's overarching approach centers on building a secure, standardized, transparent, open, vibrant, and resilient capital market. Key priorities include implementing the new "National Nine Measures" and the complete "1+N" policy framework, deepening comprehensive investment-financing reforms, improving institutional inclusiveness and adaptability, and strengthening rigorous regulation. The goal is to establish a new pattern of high-quality capital market development by 2030, coinciding with the market's 40th anniversary, significantly enhancing its comprehensive strength and international competitiveness.

Li outlined eight key focus areas. First, enhancing institutional inclusiveness and adaptability by actively responding to global technological innovation trends and strengthening support for technology finance and other priority areas, while optimizing issuance and listing systems to serve diverse high-quality enterprises across new industries, future industries, traditional industry upgrades, and modern services.

Second, reinforcing internal market stability by learning from past experience, strengthening market stabilization mechanisms, diversifying long-term capital sources, and refining risk monitoring systems. Third, intensifying regulatory oversight and investor protection by targeting major violations including fraudulent issuance, financial misrepresentation, market manipulation, and insider trading, while improving legal frameworks and protection mechanisms.

Fourth, improving the multi-tiered capital market system to align with the full lifecycle and differentiated financial needs of the real economy, optimizing equity financing structures, developing multi-tiered bond markets, and strengthening futures market mechanisms. Fifth, elevating listed company quality and investment value through invigorated M&A reforms, improved corporate governance, and continued enhancement of the delisting system.

Sixth, accelerating the development of first-class investment banks and institutions with emphasis on functional requirements and professional service capabilities. Seventh, building secure and efficient financial infrastructure including world-class exchanges with enhanced technological capabilities. Eighth, expanding high-level opening-up by improving cross-border investment convenience, optimizing qualified foreign investor mechanisms, and strengthening connectivity systems while supporting enterprises in utilizing both domestic and international markets.

Regarding investment and financing reforms raised during the Q&A session, Li explained these represent two fundamental capital market functions that complement each other. Recent years have seen deepening structural changes with coordinated development accelerating and improved real economy service quality. The initial approval cycle for IPOs on Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges has shortened to approximately six months this year, with some quality companies completing refinancing approvals in under one month.

The CSRC will focus on four reform directions. First, stimulating market vitality by supporting new quality productive forces, implementing more inclusive issuance and M&A systems, and optimizing refinancing regulations while facilitating coordinated development of the Beijing Stock Exchange and the NEEQ system. The private equity and venture capital cycle will be smoothed to encourage early-stage, small-scale, long-term, and hard-tech investments.

Second, strengthening stability foundations. Social security funds, annuity plans, and insurance capital have collectively achieved net purchases of A-shares exceeding RMB 600 billion this year, with holdings in circulating A-share market value growing 12.5% compared to end-2025. The national social security fund achieved a 13.2% investment return in 2025, while public funds generated RMB 1.74 trillion in investor profits during the first half of this year.

Third, enhancing regulatory effectiveness. In the first eight months of this year, 644 securities and futures violation cases were investigated with nearly RMB 10 billion in penalties and confiscations, while investors recovered over RMB 5 billion through various channels. The CSRC will strengthen full-chain supervision and accelerate the transition to digital, intelligent regulation including AI application oversight.

Fourth, strengthening legal safeguards. The revised securities company supervision regulations are expected to be published shortly. Work continues on amending the Securities Investment Fund Law and listed company supervision regulations while improving investor protection systems suited to China's national conditions.

Addressing listed company quality enhancement, Li emphasized that listed companies form the foundation of the capital market. Since 2024, technology innovation enterprises have accounted for over 90% of newly listed companies, with the technology sector's market value increasing more than 80%. The normalized delisting mechanism has seen 108 companies delist smoothly since 2024, with continued efforts to maintain strict entry standards and enhance delisting supervision.

On financial fraud prevention, special campaigns over three consecutive years have investigated 247 cases, imposed 156 administrative penalties totaling nearly RMB 10 billion, transferred 134 criminal leads to public security authorities, and supported 84 civil lawsuits. Future efforts will intensify integrated punishment, prevention, and governance approaches combining administrative, civil, and criminal measures to create a market ecosystem where fraud is perpetually discouraged.

Regarding corporate governance, new rounds of special action plans will strictly regulate controlling shareholder and actual controller share reductions while strengthening comprehensive oversight of director and executive appointments, performance, and departures. Since the "Six M&A Measures" in 2024, listed companies have disclosed 370 significant asset restructuring transactions. Since the new "National Nine Measures," cumulative dividends and buybacks have exceeded RMB 7 trillion, with over 2,000 companies maintaining five consecutive years of dividends and more than 1,000 companies conducting interim dividends, reflecting improved frequency and scale of investor returns.