China should reduce restrictions on foreign capital, senior economists say

China should further reduce restrictions on foreign investors and advance efforts to continue opening up the financial sector, a former senior official with the International Monetary Fund said on Saturday.

"Granting more access to foreign financial institutions can be our next incremental step of further opening up," said Zhu Min, economist and former deputy managing director of the IMF. "We have pledged to treat foreign and domestic investors equally in certain areas, and now a good time has arrived to take concrete steps."

Some efforts can be made in the short run, include raising the current 25 percent stake of foreign investors in banks and in securities companies, according to a report on Saturday by China Finance Forum 40, a leading think tank.