China rolls out support measures to aid struggling stocks

Persistent weakness in the world's second-largest economy, reeling from sluggish consumption and a prolonged property sector debt crisis, and sharp falls in tech stocks have hit investor confidence.

Paramilitary police officers stand guard in front of the headquarters of the People's Bank of China, the central bank, in Beijing, China. (File photo: Reuters/Tingshu Wang)

BEIJING: Chinese regulators have rolled out a handful of measures, from conducting swap operations to upgrading a lending facility for stock buybacks by listed companies, as part of efforts to stabilise struggling capital markets.

Authorities also prodded index heavyweights and leading tech firms to try to stabilise their share prices, and are studying plans to ease margin rules to increase market liquidity.

China's central bank and securities watchdog made their announcements on Monday (Nov 2) after the benchmark CSI300 Index slumped 8.5 per cent in October, its worst month since early 2016.

Persistent weakness in the world's second-largest economy, reeling from sluggish consumption and a prolonged property sector debt crisis, and sharp falls in tech stocks have hit investor confidence.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less Local media first reported that regulators had met with financial institutions on Monday to discuss tools to support capital markets. Share prices regained ground on Monday in expectation of supportive policies.

As part of the measures, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on Monday it would conduct swap operations with financial institutions on Tuesday that could inject more than 100 billion yuan (US$15 billion) into the stock market.

It will be the third time the PBOC has used the liquidity tool, created two years ago to allow brokers, insurers and fund companies to obtain liquidity for stock purchases.

The PBOC also said a relending scheme designed to fund share buybacks and purchases would shift from a temporary arrangement to a long-term mechanism. The interest rate of the expanded scheme was cut to 1 per cent from 1.25 per cent.

In a separate statement, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) urged key index constituents and "dragon head" tech companies to "actively buy back shares" and stabilize market value. The regulator will also prod some newly established exchange-traded funds to "speed up building stock positions", and encourage fund managers to buy shares in a down-cycle.

The new round of PBOC swap operations "sends another strong signal of policymakers’ commitment to safeguarding capital market stability and supporting investor confidence", said Hao Zhou, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Guotai Haitong Securities. He said global volatility and external uncertainties continued to weigh on investor sentiment.