Holy Hannah it's a long list.
From Bloomberg, February 7:
- Beijing replaced market regulator in surprise move Wednesday
- Benchmark CSI gauge rose this week, but is still down on year
Chinese stocks have staged a nascent recovery from a $7 trillion rout, thanks to intensifying rescue efforts as authorities seek to prevent the market from slumping for a fourth straight year.
The benchmark CSI 300 Index has gained 5.2% so far this week. The rebound came after a quickening drumbeat of policy support, which included replacing the market regulator and wider trading curbs as well as state buying of major bank stocks. News that regulators planned to brief President Xi Jinping on markets also fueled optimism.
Chinese leaders are under mounting pressure to act more resolutely to end a stock-market meltdown that risks undermining financial and social stability, at a time when the economy is mired in worsening housing woes and persistent deflationary pressures. Authorities also appear keen to prevent a weak market from further dampening already anemic consumption as China enters the Lunar New Year holiday week.
Here’s a list of measures that have either been announced or reported on to start the year as China seeks to aid the economy and calm investors.
Feb. 7:
In a surprise move after markets had closed for the day, Beijing replaced the head of its securities regulator. Wu Qing, a banking and regulation veteran who earned the reputation as “the broker butcher” when he led a crackdown on traders in the mid-2000s, is replacing Yi Huiman as chairman and party chief of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Feb. 6:
Funding Support for Developers
China’s financial regulator calls for further, prompt implementation of a financing coordination mechanism to support developers at a meeting, according to a statement
Regulators Plan to Brief Xi
Regulators plan to brief President Xi Jinping on the market as soon as Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported. While it’s unclear whether any new support measures will come out of the Xi meeting, traders are hoping this time will be different.
Sovereign Wealth Fund Pledges Support
Central Huijin Investment Ltd., the unit that holds Chinese government stakes in big financial institutions, said it will buy more exchange-traded funds. The securities regulator vowed in a follow-up comment
to maintain stable market operations, adding that authorities will continue to guide various institutional investors and funds to enter the market with greater efforts.
M&A and Restructuring Support
China will strongly support listed companies to enhance their investment value through mergers, acquisitions and restructuring, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement
‘National Team’ Buying Shares
The so-called national team has bought roughly 70 billion yuan ($9.7 billion) of onshore Chinese shares in the past month, according to estimates
by Goldman Sachs, adding that 200 billion yuan or ~0.8% of free float market capitalization is needed to stabilize the market.The national team refers to a group of Chinese state funds tasked to support markets. Meantime, overseas investors, which may include offshore proxies for such state funds, bought another 1.7 billion yuan of mainland stocks via trading links with Hong Kong Wednesday, marking the seventh consecutive session of inflows.
Restricting Sales
China is tightening trading restrictions on domestic institutional investors as well as some offshore units as authorities fight to stem a deepening stock rout, according to people familiar with the matter.
Officials this week imposed caps on some brokerages’ cross-border total return swaps with clients, limiting a channel that can be used by China-based investors to short Hong Kong stocks, said the people, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. At the same time, some Chinese brokers that use the channel to buy mainland shares for their offshore units were told not to reduce their positions, the people said.
Feb. 5:
Monetary Stimulus...
