(Yicai) Sept. 25 -- The China Securities Regulatory Commission has unveiled a new set of measures to guide mergers and acquisitions among listed companies.

The CSRC will support M&As across different industries, especially those centered around strategic emerging industries and future industries, allow the acquisition of unprofitable assets, increase regulatory tolerance, simplify approval procedures, and shorten review time, according to a document released yesterday by the regulator.

From a practical perspective, caution is still needed in cross-industry acquisitions, a senior executive at a venture capital firm told Yicai. "The continuous implementation of M&A supporting policies promoted the exit of private equity funds," the executive noted. "However, there are still challenges because M&As are more complex than initial public offerings."

For private equity funds with an investment period of over five years, the lock-up period for third-party transactions will be halved to six months, per the new measures. Meanwhile, the lock-up period for small shareholders introduced in restructurings will be cut to 12 months from 24 months.

The new regulations will significantly boost M&As, promoting market activity and corporate transformations through specific and effective measures, Tian Lihui, dean of the Institute of Financial Development at Nankai University, told Yicai. The introduction of a market-oriented mechanism where the lock-up period is inversely proportional to the investment period will stimulate private equity institutions' enthusiasm for M&As and optimize the market environment, Tian added.

The new rules also propose supporting companies listed on the Chinese mainland stock exchanges' technology boards -- the ChiNext and Star Market -- to acquire upstream and downstream assets that do not meet the deep technology requirements, opening more room for M&As.

Deep technology enterprises are more active, so they can benefit more from the new measures, Wanlian Securities said. The willingness to acquire innovative enterprises with research and development advantages and higher chances to achieve commercialization is expected to further increase, the Chinese securities firm added.

The new regulations also proposed to improve the role of intermediary institutions and tighten supervision. "The CSRC will guide all parties to conduct M&A activities in compliance with regulations, strictly fulfill statutory obligations, and crack down on various illegal activities."

Since May, nearly 50 major restructurings have been announced in China, including several large-scale mergers of central state-owned enterprises and securities firms.

Editor: Futura Costaglione