Citadel Securities, led by CEO Peng Zhao, has submitted an application to the China Securities Regulatory Commission to establish a brokerage in mainland China. The move comes as many Wall Street firms find it challenging to navigate the country's markets.

China announced plans on Thursday to channel hundreds of billions of yuan of investment from state-owned insurers into shares as part of the government's latest efforts to support a struggling stock market.

China is guiding local mutual funds and insurers to boost their stock purchases in the government’s latest initiative to shore up its ailing equity market as it confronts the threat of higher tariffs.

By the end of last year, 866 qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII) obtained investment qualification in the A-share market. Foreign investors held about 3 trillion yuan ($410 billion) of A shares via QFII and stock connect programs, serving as an important source of capital inflow into the Chinese stock market, Wu said.

Japan's Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a stronger open for the market. The futures contract in Chicago is currently at 40,260 and its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 40,480 compared to the index's previous close of 39,931.98.

SHANGHAI: China announced plans on Thursday to channel hundreds of billions of yuan annually into shares from state-owned insurers, in the authorities' latest effort to support equity markets.

Chinese financial regulators on Thursday further elaborated on an implementation plan issued a day earlier aimed at boosting the inflow of long-term funds into the stock market, saying that they will guide major state-owned insurers to increase both the scale and proportion of their investments in A-shares.

Gold hovered near record highs in Asian trade as the dollar weakened on Trump's call for immediate interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Citadel has been participating in China’s so-called A-share market from Hong Kong, where it trades cash equities, futures, options and exchange-traded funds. It has an office in Shanghai with a small team supporting the firm’s offshore China business.

China on Thursday detailed measures to encourage state-owned funds and insurers to buy more shares, aimed at stabilizing the struggling stock market at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to announce tariffs on Chinese imports.

The Chinese government is trying to encourage people to spend more by ensuring that share prices will rise, ordering pensions and mutual funds to invest more in domestic stock markets. Officials told reporters in Beijing that mutual funds should increase holdings of onshore stocks by at least 10% a year over the next three years.

Securities are deposited to investor accounts, and payment is delivered to the Treasury. ETFs: ETFs are bought and sold like stocks, and many qualify for commission-free trades. Investors can ...