A Chinese investor looks at a screen displaying the Shanghai Composite Index at a stock brokerage house in Fuyang city, Anhui province. Photo: AFP
The new rule stipulates that domestic listed companies and their foreign employees can directly handle business such as cross-border payment and fund transfer at banks with a registration certificate without applying for prior approval. Photo: AFP

Since the outbreak of A-share market volatility in 2015, the largest institutional investor in the market has become the “national team,” referring to China’s state-owned firms, Yicai.com reported.

The “national team” includes the China Securities Finance Co. Ltd. and its asset management plans, as well as five customized funds, the Central Huijin Investment Co. Ltd., and investment platforms under the administration of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

As of the end of June 2018, the team has held a total of 1,141 A-shares, and the corresponding market value runs as high as 3.1 trillion yuan (US$450 billion), far exceeding the amount held by insurance institutions and public funds, which is less than 2 trillion yuan.

According to Wind terminal, as of the end of June, without taking social security funds into consideration, the three major fund holding stocks are Bank of China, ICBC and Agricultural Bank of China.

A fund holding stock refers to a stock held by a number of fund companies and accounting for more than 20% of the market capitalization.