China to encourage overseas participation in STAR market

BEIJING - China will encourage overseas investors to participate in the Nasdaq-style sci-tech innovation board, commonly known as the STAR market, according to an official with the country's forex regulator.

The opening-up of the country's capital account and the development of the foreign exchange market will be promoted in a steady and orderly manner, Lu Lei, deputy director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), said at a forum held on the weekend.

The country will continue to enrich forex trading, support the development of the STAR market, and encourage overseas participation in the board, he added.

"Our stance is to promote higher-standard opening up on the basis of risk prevention and control," Lu said when referring to the country's forex management reforms.

The target of prudent macro management is to maintain basic stability of the forex market and prevent systemic risks incurred by large-scale, unstable cross-border capital movement, he said.

The country will also step up regulations for the forex market and maintain order to protect the legitimate rights of consumers and investors, he said.

In the first nine months of this year, China's forex market turnover totaled 153.82 trillion yuan (about $21.9 trillion), SAFE data showed. In September alone, the forex market reported a turnover of 15.01 trillion yuan.