CSRC Slashes Public Fund Sales Fees: What This Means for Your Investment Costs in 2026

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC 中国证监会) just dropped a major regulatory update that’s reshaping how much you’ll pay to invest in public funds.

Starting January 1, 2026, a completely revised fee structure is taking effect—and it’s designed to put money back in your pocket.

Here’s what’s actually changing and why it matters to your portfolio.

Why the CSRC Is Overhauling Public Fund Sales Fees

China’s securities regulator didn’t just wake up one day and decide to cut fees for fun.

This move is part of a larger “Action Plan for Promoting the High-Quality Development of Public Funds”—basically, the CSRC’s roadmap to make fund investing more attractive and accessible to regular people.

The reality?

Too many individual investors were getting priced out by excessive fees.

The newly revised “Regulations on the Management of Sales Fees for Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds” (Gongkai Muji Zhengquan Touzi Jijin Xiaoshou Feiyong Guanli Guding 公开募集证券投资基金销售费用管理规定) tackles three core problems:

• Reducing investor costs – Directly lower what you pay when buying and selling funds
• Standardizing the market – Create consistent, transparent fee rules across the entire public fund industry
• Protecting your rights – Make sure fund managers and platforms aren’t double-dipping or burying fees in fine print

Think of it as the CSRC saying: “Enough is enough. Fees need to actually reflect the value being provided.”

The 6 Chapters, 29 Articles Breakdown: What Actually Changed

• Direct Fee Cuts: Significant reduction in subscription rates and sales service charges.
• Redemption Transparency: Fees returned to the fund property to benefit all current holders.
• Long-term Incentive: Zero sales service fees for holdings longer than one year.
• Tiered Caps: Targeted caps on maintenance fees to support equity-based funds.
• Interest Rights: Interest on settlement funds transferred from managers back to investors.
• Institutional Platform: New direct sales platform to improve industry efficiency.

The revised regulations span 6 chapters and 29 articles—basically a complete overhaul of how public fund fees work in China.

Let’s break down the parts that’ll actually affect your wallet:

1. Subscription and Sales Fees Are Getting Cut

This is the headline move.

The CSRC is directly reducing subscription rates and sales service fee levels for public funds.

What does that mean in plain English?

When you buy a fund, you’ll pay less upfront.

When you pay ongoing service fees to maintain your investment, those are shrinking too.

It’s straightforward: fewer dollars leaving your account for basic transactional costs.

2. Redemption Fees Are Now Transparent and Fair

Historically, redemption fees (the cost to sell your fund) were sometimes murky or went into the fund company’s pocket.

Not anymore.

Under the new rules, any redemption fees you pay get credited directly back into the fund’s property.

Why does this matter?

It means those fees stay with the fund—benefiting all investors in that fund, not lining someone’s pockets.

3. Hold Your Fund for 1+ Years, Skip the Sales Service Fee

Here’s the kicker that’ll make long-term investors smile.

If you hold a fund for more than one year (excluding money market funds), you won’t pay sales service fees at all.

This is a direct incentive to think long-term.

The CSRC wants people investing for the future, not day-trading like it’s a casino.

Hold for a year+, and those ongoing maintenance costs disappear.

That’s a real cost reduction for buy-and-hold investors.

4. Customer Maintenance Fees Now Have a Tiered Cap System

Customer maintenance fees (what funds charge to keep your account running) are now capped based on a tiered structure.

But here’s the clever part: the CSRC specifically designed this cap to encourage the development of equity-based funds.

Translation: funds investing in stocks get more favorable fee treatment than other fund types.

Why?

Because equity funds are seen as better for long-term wealth building, and the regulator wants to make those more affordable relative to other options.

5. Interest on Fund Settlement Money Now Belongs to Investors

This one’s easy to miss but important.

When you send money to buy a fund, that cash sometimes sits for a few days before it’s fully deployed.

The interest earned on that “settlement float” used to go to the fund company.

Not anymore.

All interest earned on fund sales settlement funds now belongs to the investors.

It’s a small thing individually, but collectively—across millions of transactions—it adds up.

Plus, the regulations now explicitly prohibit double-charging when fund advisory services are bundled with fund investment services.

No more hidden duplicate fees.

6. New Institutional Investor Direct Sales Service Platform

The CSRC is establishing a dedicated institutional investor direct sales service platform for the fund industry.

For you (the retail investor)?

This means fund managers can sell directly to big institutional investors without middle-layer markups, which theoretically creates more efficient pricing across the board.

It’s also supposed to be more secure and user-friendly than the fragmented platforms that existed before.

How the CSRC Actually Built This (Spoiler: They Asked for Feedback)

The CSRC didn’t just slam these regulations on the table.

They went through a formal public consultation period with draft regulations.

Fund managers, brokers, platforms, and industry groups weighed in with feedback.

The industry largely supported the direction—which tells you something important: most stakeholders recognized fees were out of control.

After incorporating that feedback, the CSRC refined and finalized the rules.

This isn’t a random power grab—it’s a coordinated effort to fix something broken in the system.

What Happens Now: The January 1, 2026 Implementation

The regulations officially take effect on January 1, 2026.

The CSRC’s stated priority?

Make sure the rollout is smooth and that investor costs actually decline across the board—not just on paper.

Fund companies have until that date to update their fee structures, prospectuses, and systems.

As an investor, you should expect:

• Lower upfront subscription fees when you buy funds
• No ongoing sales service charges if you hold for 1+ years
• More transparent redemption and settlement fee structures
• Clearer fund prospectuses explaining what you’re actually paying for

If your favorite fund manager suddenly raises fees instead of lowering them?

That’ll be a red flag worth investigating.

The Bigger Picture: Why This Matters for Retail Investors

On the surface, this is about fees.

Dig deeper, and it’s about democratizing investment access in China.

When fees are high, only wealthy investors can afford to participate in fund markets.

Lower fees = more retail participation = bigger, healthier markets.

The CSRC is essentially saying: “We want regular people actually building wealth through fund investing, not just the ultra-rich.”

This aligns with broader regulatory trends in China toward consumer protection and financial inclusion.

So even if you don’t own any funds yet, this regulatory shift signals the market is moving in a more investor-friendly direction.

References

• CSRC Revises and Issues Regulations on the Management of Sales Fees for Publicly Offered Securities Investment Funds – China Securities Regulatory Commission
• Financial News and Data Services – East Money (Dongfang Caifu 东方财富)
• Action Plan for Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Public Fund Industry – China Securities Regulatory Commission