China: A Real Opening-Up, or Opening-Up With Boundaries? Where Is China’s Capital Market Heading?

Jul 02 2026

On 17 June 2026, the Chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Wu Qing, delivered a keynote speech at the Lujiazui Forum, emphasizing China’s continued participation in the global financial markets, as well as its efforts to improve cross-border investment and financing convenience.

Chairman Wu Qing outlined the measures under consideration or being supported as part of this initiative. These include: (i) a pilot permitting RMB foreign exchange trading trough the China Foreign Exchange Trade System platform; (ii) allowing Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor program (QFI) participation in domestic treasury bond futures; (iii) support for the launch in Hong Kong of five-year RMB treasury bond futures, and (iv) greater support for foreign securities, fund, and futures institutions operating in China.

These are undoubtedly important signals of China’s continued capital market opening. Yet China’s model of opening-up has always carried one premise: openness must be bounded by security. QFI thresholds have been gradually lowered and the investment scope expanded, but investors entering the Chinese market remain subject to screening. Foreign investors may access A shares (domestic shares of Chinese companies) through the Mainland-Hong Kong Stock Connect investment channel, but within clearly defined routes and limits.

So where does the boundary lie? A practical observation is that it is not fixed, but is dynamically adjusted over time. As investors grow more sophisticated, China’s financial infrastructure strengthens and the resilience of its economy to risks is enhanced, the scope and depth of opening-up of China’s capital markets is expected to continue to expand. Whatever changes may come, “rooted in stability, driven by discipline” remains the underlying theme of China’s capital market evolution as emphasized by Chairman Wu Qing in the Opinions of the State Council on Strengthening Regulation, Preventing Risks, and Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Capital Market.