China Approves Merger of Guotai Junan, Haitung...The creation of a super state-owned securities company

Mergers and acquisitions in China will create an ultra-large securities company with assets of 300 trillion won.

According to the China Interfacial Newspaper, the China Securities Supervisory Commission (SFC) approved the merger of Guotai Junan Securities and Haitung Securities today (17th).

The merger will be carried out by Guo Taijunan, who will issue about 6 billion new shares to absorb Haitung.

When the merger is completed, it will become the largest securities firm in China with assets of $230 billion (about 336 trillion won).

Shanghai's National Asset Management Bureau indirectly holds about a third of Guotaijunan shares and about a fifth of Haitung shares.

The merger between the two securities firms was first announced in September last year.

It comes about a year after Chinese President Xi Jinping called for "fostering some top-tier investment banks to compete with Wall Street companies expanding their operations in China" at a financial operations conference in October 2023.Following Xi's remarks

, China's securities supervisory regulator also expressed support for consolidating the financial sector in March last year, saying its goal is to have two or three investment banks that can compete globally by 2035.