The People 's Bank of China Financial Technology Committee will step up its oversight of fintech this year, it announced Dec. 30 at a meeting in Beijing, where it also issued new policies to protect financial information and supervise blockchain finance.

In the last year, 18 Chinese companies were delisted and nine suspended -- a record-setting number. As of Jan. 3, a total of 118 companies had completed their delisting from the Chinese market.

On last year's final trading day (Dec. 31), the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.33 percent to 3,050.12 points, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Index bobbed 0.63 percent to 10,430.77 points, and the ChiNext Index climbed 0.44 percent to 1,798.12 points. 

Approval for the formation of 17 wealth management subsidiaries had been forthcoming as of Dec. 30, while 10 had opened. Following the lead of state-owned and joint-stock banks, the first foreign-controlled wealth management companies also began to enter the market at an accelerating rate.

China's local authorities brought out CNY43.62 trillion (USD6.26 trillion) in bonds, with their issuance tasks proceeding smoothly the whole year, China's Ministry of Finance announced on Jan. 3. The average interest rate on these bonds was 3.47 percent, 42 basis points lower for the year, and their average maturity was 10.3 years, up 4.1 years on an annual basis. Their trading volume was CNY9.6 trillion, an increase of CNY5.3 trillion per year; while the turnover rate was 0.49 times, a rise of 0.23 times.

The People's Bank of China decided to lower the reserve ratio requirement for financial institutions by 0.5 percent today and release long-term funds of more than CNY800 billion (USD115 billion).

Editor: Ben Armour