There will be many new opportunities and challenges in China's capital market, the chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said at a seminar on Asia and global finance held during the Fortune Global Forum 2001, which opened in Hong Kong Tuesday.

China's capital market is still in the initial stage, with more than 1,100 firms listed on the two stock exchanges. Last year the two bourse reported a combined turnover of 25 billion yuan (about US$3 billion).

As a new regulatory body, the CSRC has a lot to learn, and China's young capital market needs to develop more financial instruments such as the high-tech trading platform and the bond market, he said.

The CSRC will cooperate with other units to exercise supervision over listed companies and market operations, upgrade the standards set for accounting firms, and promote financial institutions to provide more financial products, Zhou said.

He stressed it is a set policy of the State to encourage large enterprises to go public overseas so as to raise funds from the overseas market and improve their management.

(Xinhua 05/09/2001)