China has unveiled a five-year blueprint for its financial sector, setting out measures to curb risk, tighten oversight and drive higher-quality growth between 2026 and 2030, the PBOC, the CRSC, the NFRA and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said at a joint press conference on Thursday.
The plan, drafted by the office of the Central Financial Commission alongside relevant financial authorities, sets a 2030 deadline for establishing the broad architecture of a modern financial system tailored to China’s circumstances. Officials said the goals include better-coordinated regulation, a more efficient structure across the financial system, tighter supervision and sharper, more targeted risk controls.
By 2035, the ambition widens further, with authorities aiming to have largely built an adaptive, competitive and inclusive financial system that strengthens the foundations of China’s broader economic standing.
On monetary policy, PBOC deputy governor Lu Lei said the central bank will continue reshaping its policy framework to keep pace with structural shifts in the domestic economy. The PBOC intends to refine how it supplies base money and manages reserve requirements, while conducting open market operations with more flexibility.
China will also stick with its managed floating exchange rate, letting market forces play a bigger role in setting the currency’s value while guarding against speculative herd behaviour, Lu added. Clearer, more consistent communication of policy decisions is also planned, to make the central bank’s intentions easier for markets to interpret.
On capital markets, CSRC vice chairman Li Chao said the regulator will speed up reform and opening measures, with an eye on marking the 40th anniversary of China’s capital market in 2030 with visible gains in market strength and global competitiveness. Plans include easing rules around stock listings and mergers and acquisitions, and positioning the A-share market as the default listing choice for strong domestic firms.
Li noted that long-term institutional money, spanning social security, annuity and insurance funds, has bought a net 600 billion yuan (roughly $88.4bn) of A-shares so far this year, lifting the value of their tradable holdings by 12.5% since the end of 2025.
Turning to financial stability, NFRA deputy head Cong Lin said regulators will move carefully to address risk in sensitive areas, particularly among smaller regional lenders, while working to head off major shocks before they take hold.
Institutions are being steered away from growth built purely on scale and speed, toward models centred on quality and performance, alongside a crackdown on price wars, illicit commission rebates and unusually high interest offers. Cong added that regulators will apply differentiated rules across institution types, spelling out permitted and prohibited activities so firms concentrate on core strengths rather than chasing uniform growth.
On cross-border activity, State Administration of Foreign Exchange deputy head Li Bin said China has reached basic convertibility for direct investment flows. Overseas investors can now access domestic markets through institutional investor schemes, market-linking mechanisms and direct entry routes, though all cross-border financing remains subject to macro-prudential oversight.
Officials also pointed to results from the previous five-year cycle: during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China’s banking and insurance sectors channelled more than 170 trillion yuan of extra financing into the real economy via loans, bonds and equity, alongside continued progress on reform, supervision and risk resolution.
The new 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) calls for social financing and money supply growth to track economic and price targets, greater flexibility in the renminbi’s exchange rate while preserving overall stability, expanded “patient capital”, stronger support for long-term funds entering capital markets, and continued work on strengthening supervision and defusing financial risk.
Copyright © 2026 RegTech Analyst
Copyright © 2026 RegTech Analyst
