New fund management rules

In what many say is a further attempt by Beijing to prop up China's drooping stock market, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has issued new rules allowing fund-management firms with more than US$6m in net assets to invest their own capital in mutual funds, a move regulators say would help the firms use their capital more efficiently and boost the sales of funds. Previously fund management firms could only use their assets to set up and operate funds and to invest in treasury bonds. While more than US$300m could potentially flow into the market, it would hardly make a dent in the US$400bn yuan-denominated A share market, according to Shanghai Securities News.