(Yicai Global) July 30 -- The Chinese market is attracting growing attention from foreign asset management companies, according to a deputy chief from the country's sovereign wealth fund.

China has recently unveiled a slew of measures to loosen up the domestic market, including financial market opening-up plans, while prompting global asset management companies to accelerate their expansion in the country, Tu Guangshao, vice chairman and general manager of China Investment said at the 2018 China Asset Management Annual Conference in Shanghai two days ago.

The addition of foreign firms is good for China's development overall but it will also bring new challenges to domestic companies as they will face even stronger competition, the GM from the Beijing-based institution added.

Some 13 foreign private funds, including Swiss investment bank UBS Group, US asset manager BlackRock, British financial institution Schroders, and US investment firm Bridgewater Associates, have registered as private equity fund managers with the Asset Management Association of China since last year.

On Boao Forum in April, China's central bank Governor Yi Gang announced 11 measures that will be put in place this year to further open up the country's financial market, including erasing the capital cap on foreign-owned financial institutions and loosening equity restrictions on foreign insurers, as well as securities and fund companies.

Tu hinted about future trends in the financial sector, mentioning that regulatory standards regarding asset allocation structure, long-term investment, and passive management will become even tougher, and that more technologies will be adopted to help manage assets.

China's outbound investment is also rising rapidly during recent years, and Chinese asset management firms are set to break into foreign markets, Tu added.

Editor: Emmi Laine