BEIJING, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- China has been steadily expanding institutional opening of its capital market during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), with a series of targeted measures implemented to enhance its appeal to global investors and facilitate high-quality development.

Over this period, the number of foreign-controlled securities, funds and futures companies has grown significantly, with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) approving 13 additional foreign-controlled firms in these sectors.

The number of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) had expanded to almost 907 by the end of August, with their holdings of Chinese shares valued at 949.3 billion yuan (about 133.6 billion U.S. dollars).

According to the newly disclosed data for the second quarter of 2025, the total market value of northbound funds has reached 2.29 trillion yuan, up more than 2 percent from the previous quarter.

This flow of capital coincides with the latest survey on emerging market investment intent from the HSBC Global Investment Research. It shows that among many emerging markets, the Chinese stock market has become the first choice for global institutional investors. More than half of the respondents said they were most optimistic about the outlook for the mainland stock market, a significantly higher proportion than the approximately one-third reported at the time of the June survey.

"These figures demonstrate the positive outcomes of China's capital market opening up," said Zhao Xijun, a finance professor at Renmin University of China. "It not only allows foreign institutions to fully leverage their strengths in cross-border services but also introduces international expertise to enhance market vitality, while enabling global capital to share the dividends of China's high-quality development."

Behind these impressive results lies the sustained momentum of the policy package. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, a series of targeted measures have taken effect, both improving the convenience of foreign investment and providing institutional guarantees for high-standard financial opening up.

For example, recent years have witnessed the complete removal of foreign ownership limits on financial institutions, the improvement of the QFII system, and the expansion of the varieties of derivatives in which qualified foreign institutional investors can participate within commodity futures and options trading.

Moreover, the CSRC plans to collaborate with the People's Bank of China to study and promote the trading of RMB foreign exchange futures.

Global investors believe these measures are enabling them to more smoothly and fully share in China's innovation-driven development opportunities.

"UBS was the first foreign institution to obtain the QFII qualification. Leveraging this advantage, we have actively engaged with global investors through platforms like Stock Connect and QFII," said Thomas Fang, head of China global markets at UBS.

He added that A-shares are expected to maintain a steady and positive trend both in terms of valuations and market attention, as policies continue to strengthen while the external environment becomes clearer.

Additionally, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the CSRC announced five measures to bolster Hong Kong's role as an international financial center, while optimizing mechanisms such as Stock Connect and mutual recognition of funds.

Ying Weiping, chairman of Trans International Finance, said, "The policy package has achieved two-way empowerment between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong capital markets. On one hand, connectivity mechanisms have allowed Hong Kong to better meet the mainland's demand for cross-border capital allocation; on the other hand, Hong Kong's role as a 'bridge to the world' has enabled international capital to enter the mainland market more smoothly."

Looking forward, market participants expect the institutional opening up of China's capital market to advance to deeper levels and broader areas. Measures focusing on enhancing connectivity, strengthening risk prevention and control, and other key areas will be rolled out sequentially to boost the global competitiveness of Chinese assets.

The recent approval of qualified foreign investors to participate in on-exchange ETF options trading from Oct. 9 represents another significant step forward.

While advancing opening up, China remains committed to preventing and controlling financial risks.

Guan Tao, an economist with BOC International, emphasized the importance of improving macro-prudential management of cross-border capital flows, enhancing monitoring and assessment systems and exploring the introduction of price-based management tools.