THE move by China's chief securities regulators to stop labelling the domestic stock market an experiment marks a giant stride for the mainland's slackening securities industry.
After five years of experiments, the officials of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) are now looking at ways to usher the fledgling securities industry into a second stage of development.
Although the move still lacks substance, the change in labels is symbolically important, indicating China's commitment to the long-term development of the industry.
It will also be a timely confidence booster to Western analysts who have found the development of China's securities industry hampered by the strong dash of government intervention and the immaturity of mainland investors.
In the initial stages of establishing a securities market, government intervention is indispensable because of insufficient infrastructure in areas such as a legal framework and public knowledge of the industry.
But government intervention is usually more of a hindrance than a catalyst, if China really wants to bring the industry a step further and to align it with international practice.