According to the official website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the application materials for "Approval for Establishment of a Securities Company" submitted by Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. of Japan have recently been received by the CSRC. If Mizuho Securities obtains approval to establish a securities company in China, the number of Japanese-funded securities firms operating in China will increase to three, joining Nomura Orient International Securities and Daiwa Securities which are already conducting business locally. According to public information, Mizuho Securities is one of the top five comprehensive securities firms in Japan. The top five comprehensive securities firms in Japan are mainly divided into two categories: bank-affiliated securities firms and non-bank affiliated securities firms. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, Nikko Securities and Mizuho Securities belong to bank-affiliated securities companies, while Nomura Securities and Daiwa Securities fall into the non-bank affiliated category. In recent years, foreign-funded securities firms have continued to expand their scale. In January this year, Standard Chartered Securities was approved to be established, becoming the first newly established wholly foreign-owned securities company. Previously, two securities companies that were reorganized from foreign equity participation to wholly foreign-owned status had already entered the market, namely Goldman Sachs Gaohua Securities and JPMorgan Securities (China). At present, there are 9 foreign-controlled securities firms in China. In addition to the three mentioned above, they also include UBS Securities, Morgan Stanley Securities (China), DBS Securities, Daiwa Securities (China), HSBC Qianhai Securities and Nomura Orient International Securities. According to the CSRC’s official website, there are currently other foreign-funded securities firms such as Citi Securities, BNP Paribas Securities, Nikko Securities and Qingdao Yicai Securities waiting to enter the market. Judging from relevant policies, the foreign ownership ratio limit for securities companies has been fully lifted. In April 2018, the CSRC issued the *Measures for the Administration of Foreign-Invested Securities Companies*, relaxing the equity ratio of foreign shareholders in securities companies to 51%. In March 2020, the CSRC announced that the foreign ownership ratio limit for securities companies would be lifted starting from April 1, 2020. Data from the China Securities Association (CSA) shows that as of the end of the first half of 2023, there were a total of 17 foreign-shareholding and foreign-controlled securities firms in the entire industry, including 9 foreign-controlled ones. In the first half of 2023, the total assets, net assets, operating revenue and net profit of foreign-funded securities firms accounted for 5.60%, 6.56%, 7.15% and 5.50% of the industry's total respectively. The CSA stated that in recent years, the capital market has been opening up steadily and at an accelerated pace, and the securities industry has played a hub role in internal and external linkage, with "bringing in" and "going global" advancing in parallel. After entering the Chinese market to conduct business, foreign financial institutions have actively expanded new business qualifications or licenses. According to the CSRC’s official website, on October 29 this year, HSBC Qianhai Securities submitted materials for "Approval for Application to Increase Business Categories of Securities Companies" to the CSRC. The progress tracking on October 31 was "Materials Received", and the progress tracking on November 6 was "Notification of Supplementation". In May this year, the CSRC approved in accordance with the law the establishment of Morgan Stanley Futures (China) Co., Ltd. in Beijing by Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley Futures has become the second wholly foreign-owned futures company in China. The pace of business operations of foreign-funded securities firms in China is accelerating, which may promote Chinese-funded securities firms to enhance their own business development. Industry insiders believe that after foreign-funded securities firms enter the Chinese market, they can promote the formation of a differentiated competitive landscape in the securities industry. At the same time, international financial institutions are relatively mature in terms of technology application, talent cultivation, risk control and other aspects. Expanding the team of foreign-funded securities firms will help promote Chinese-funded securities firms to align with international standards and create new development opportunities. © 2021 Meishun (Hong Kong) Management Consulting Co., Ltd. and Meishun (Hangzhou) Management Consulting Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Meishun Meiyin (Hangzhou) Consulting and Management Company is a domestic subsidiary of Hong Kong Meishun Management Consulting Company under the same actual controller. The two companies share the same actual controller and are both under the jurisdiction of one China, and they comply with the laws of Hong Kong and mainland China.