[The head of the relevant department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission answered a reporter’s question on the recent work related to stabilizing the market and stabilizing expectations] On November 2, the head of the relevant department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission answered a reporter’s question on the recent work related to stabilizing the market and stabilizing expectations. 1. The financial regulatory authorities held a symposium today to make arrangements for the full use of two structural monetary policy tools. What are the CSRC’s considerations for the follow-up work? Answer: In September 2024, the People's Bank of China, together with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Financial Supervision, launched two new monetary policy tools: swap facilities for securities, funds, and insurance companies, and special re-lending for stock repurchases and holdings increase. Over the past two years, market entities such as securities companies, fund management companies, and listed companies have responded actively, and the two tools have been operating well. As of the end of October this year, two batches of swap convenience operations had been carried out, with 28 securities companies and fund management companies participating, with a total amount of 105 billion yuan. 902 listed companies in the market have disclosed 1,110 repurchase loan announcements. Together with the shareholding loan applications applied by two state-owned capital operating companies, China Guoxin and China Chengtong, the current maximum loan limit applied for has reached a total of approximately 440 billion yuan. The establishment and implementation of the two monetary policy tools have played an important role in introducing incremental funds from the market, revitalizing the existing assets of institutions, and promoting and improving the inherent stability mechanism of the market. Today, the People's Bank of China announced that it will carry out the third batch of facilitated swap operations for securities, funds, and insurance companies. The stock repurchase and holding re-lending policy will be changed from a phased arrangement to a long-term institutional arrangement, and the re-lending interest rate will be reduced to 1%. We will work with the People's Bank of China to organize relevant market entities to make full use of these two tools and coordinate to play a supporting role in stabilizing the market. The first is to expand the scope of participating institutions and the amount of funds in the swap facility business. Upon application from relevant agencies, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China have approved 31 securities companies and fund management companies to carry out the third batch of swap convenience operations, with an application quota of more than 100 billion yuan, and operations have begun recently. The China Securities Regulatory Commission will continue to urge securities companies and fund management companies to strengthen compliance and risk control management, give full play to professional investment capabilities, and better stabilize the capital market. The second is to increase the coverage rate of special re-loans for stock repurchases and holdings increase of listed companies. The China Securities Regulatory Commission will guide the launch of more landmark cases with strong market influence, such as weighted index companies and leading technology stocks. At the same time, listed companies that have disclosed plans to repurchase and increase their loan holdings are urged to accelerate their implementation progress, and companies that have already applied for loans will increase their efforts to implement repurchases, continue the current good momentum of loan repurchases and increase their holdings, and actively contribute to the stability of the capital market. 2. Under the call and promotion of regulatory authorities, many listed companies have actively carried out share buybacks in recent years. What is the overall implementation status of buybacks by listed companies? What are the next steps to consider in terms of supporting share repurchases of listed companies and optimizing repurchase rules? Answer: Carrying out share repurchases is an important tool for listed companies to manage their market value. It is also an important way for listed companies to stabilize their stock prices and show and convey their development prospects and confidence. In December 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission revised the "Rules for Share Repurchases of Listed Companies" to improve the convenience of share repurchases and improve the normalized institutional arrangements for share repurchases of listed companies. The scale and quantity of repurchases are generally on the rise. From 2024 to the first 10 months of 2026, the enthusiasm of listed companies to repurchase shares has steadily increased. The cumulative amount of repurchase plans disclosed by the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets and the actual implementation amount have increased by 50% compared with the previous three years (2021-2023). In the first 10 months of this year, 645 listed companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges disclosed 700 share repurchase plans worth 237.7 billion yuan, of which the repurchase and cancellation amount was 115 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 50%. 747 companies actually implemented repurchases of 134.5 billion yuan. The repurchase plan amount, actual repurchase amount, repurchase cancellation amount and proportion all hit record highs. In order to further improve the convenience for listed companies to carry out share repurchases and give full play to the market's inherent market stabilizing function, after extensive and in-depth research, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has recently planned to make the following adjustments and optimizations to the repurchase of shares necessary to safeguard the company's value and shareholder rights (referred to as protective repurchase). : First, the "break" of stock price has been added as one of the circumstances under which protective repurchases can be carried out. It is stipulated that protective repurchases do not apply to the restriction that "the company's stocks have been listed for six months", and the restriction that no declarations can be made during the opening and closing call auction stages of protective repurchases has been cancelled. The second is to require listed companies within 36 months of listing to strictly and conscientiously implement the stock price stabilization measures in their listing commitments when their stock prices reach a protective buyback situation. The third is to require listed companies with over-raised funds to implement buybacks in a timely manner when they encounter protective buybacks. The fourth is to require listed companies to include a certain proportion of funds in the annual cash dividend plan into a special repurchase fund, require listed companies with over-raised funds to include a certain proportion of over-raised funds into a special repurchase fund and use it exclusively for share repurchase and cancellation, and require listed companies to include the proceeds from selling protective repurchase shares through centralized bidding into a special repurchase fund. In the next step, we will promptly revise the "Share Repurchase Rules of Listed Companies" based on in-depth research and demonstration to enhance the binding force of protective repurchases. Before the rules are formally revised, the China Securities Regulatory Commission will increase coordination and cooperation with relevant parties to support, encourage and supervise qualified listed companies, especially important index component companies and leading technology stock companies, in accordance with the above requirements and their own actual conditions to actively implement share buybacks and continue to do a good job in market value management. 3. The regulatory authorities have announced the launch of active ETFs in the early stage. What is the current progress? What are the next steps to consider in terms of enriching market investment tools? Answer: Active ETFs are public fund products in which fund managers rely on professional investment research capabilities to independently carry out stock selection, timing and allocation. They do not aim to track specific indexes, but can conduct real-time trading on the market and physical subscriptions and redemptions. They combine the characteristics of active management of ordinary funds and flexible and highly transparent ETF transactions. They can meet the needs of investors with different risk preferences and continue to introduce incremental funds to the market. Since the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced the launch of active ETFs in June this year, fund companies have actively applied for them. The first batch of 18 active ETFs were registered on October 19, and fundraising started on October 23. The overall fundraising trend is good. As of November 2, the total raised funds exceeded 35 billion yuan, of which 16 products have reached the upper limit of single fundraising scale of 2 billion yuan and ended their fundraising. In the next step, the China Securities Regulatory Commission will guide and encourage the 18 active ETFs that have completed fundraising to accelerate investment and position building. At the same time, we will continue to increase the supply and innovation of equity fund products and support the counter-cyclical layout of fund managers. Launch more new index stock ETFs to enrich on-market investment tools. Research and launch multi-asset index funds with a constant ratio of stocks and bonds, enrich over-the-counter medium and low volatility products, and better meet the investment needs of different investors. Fund managers are encouraged to issue more floating fee funds to further strengthen the binding of interests between fund managers and holders. 4. In terms of giving full play to the countercyclical adjustment function of margin trading and securities lending business, what are the recent considerations of the China Securities Regulatory Commission? Answer: Margin margin trading is one of the important basic systems of the capital market. It plays a positive role in calming irrational fluctuations, promoting price discovery, attracting medium and long-term funds into the market, and meeting investors' financing needs. In January 2026, based on the market situation at the time, the Shanghai and Shenzhen North Exchanges increased the financing margin ratio from 80% to 100%, which played a positive role in slowing down the procyclical accumulation of leverage risks, promoting rational trading, and preventing and controlling risks in advance. Recently, financing balances and trading activity have declined significantly, and the overall leverage level has become stable. In order to stabilize the capital market, boost investor confidence, and promote the functions of margin trading and securities lending business, the China Securities Regulatory Commission will work with the stock exchanges to guide securities companies to conduct overall research on risk control indicators such as the financing margin ratio, the conversion rate of securities that can be used as margin, and the maintenance guarantee ratio, and further optimize and maintain flexibility. On the basis of overall controllable risks, and in accordance with statutory countercyclical adjustment arrangements, financing space will be released appropriately, existing funds will be revitalized, and market liquidity will be enhanced.