China will expand capital market support for the artificial intelligence sector and encourage greater equity investment by pension and insurance funds, China Securities Regulatory Commission Chairman Wu Qing said on June 17.

Speaking at the 2026 Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai, he said regulators would expand the scope of the STAR Market's fifth listing standard to cover the artificial intelligence sector.

He also said authorities would encourage pension and insurance funds to increase equity investment. Since the State Council unveiled its latest capital market reform guidelines in April 2024, social security and insurance funds have made net purchases of 1.3 trillion yuan worth of A-shares, while the market value of their A-share holdings has increased by 85%.

Dividends and share buybacks by A-share listed companies over the past two years were three times the scale of equity financing during the same period, Wu said. Technology-related companies now account for more than 30% of total A-share market capitalization.

Wu said China's capital market had become more resilient after weathering major risks in recent years.