MNI China Press Digest Sep 19: Foreign Investment, CSRC, Tours

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Tuesday:

• China will increase the quality and efficiency of financial services to attract more foreign participation, according to Pan Gongsheng, president at the People's Bank of China. At a symposium held with foreign financial institutions, Pan said policymakers should implement measures to attract foreign investment as part of China’s strategy to promote high-level opening. Attendees at the symposium, including JPMorgan, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, UBS Securities and foreign financial leaders, noted China's financial industry has steadily opened in recent years. (Source: Yicai)
• The China Securities Regulatory Commission plans to strengthen further regulations on companies that pay little or no dividends and increase restrictions on those that pay dividends beyond their capacity. The CSRC will ask companies listed on the main board that do not pay a certain proportion of dividends to disclose and explain the reasons, according to an unnamed CSRC official. It will also simplify the mid-term dividend payment procedures to facilitate companies to further increase dividend frequency. (Source: 21st Century Business Herald)
• Authorities expect average daily passenger volume during this year's upcoming national and mid-autumn day holidays to double from the spring festival's numbers, according to China Railway Group (CRG). Based on analysis of pre-sale tickets, CRG expects average daily flows of 16 million people totalling 190 million passengers over the holiday. CRG said tickets on major routes are in unusually short supply and advised the public to join waiting lists or consider indirect routes involving transfers. (Source: Yicai)