Foreign asset managers will be allowed to be the controlling shareholder in wealth management joint ventures they set up with Chinese financial institutions, according to a series of measures on further opening up the country’s financial sector released Saturday.

Foreign financial institutions will also be allowed to apply for the Type-A lead bond underwriter license in the interbank market, according to the measures. This will allow them to underwrite all debt financing tools in the interbank market, a notice published on the People’s Bank of China’s website Saturday explains. Foreign institutions have previously only been allowed to be the lead underwriter for corporate panda bonds — yuan-dominated bonds that are issued by foreign non-financial institutions in China.

It’s hard for existing companies to meet the needs of China’s fast-growing asset-management market, a spokesperson at the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said Saturday. Allowing foreign institutions to control wealth management companies will help the sector’s development, the spokesperson said.

Contact reporter Liu Jiefei (jiefeiliu@caixin.com)