China's securities regulator is planning to set up an agency to buy shares of listed companies in a bid to exert shareholders' rights on behalf of the country's individual investors.

The new body would enable the[Hong Kong Company Formation & Registration] China Securities Regulatory Commission to exercise the shareholders' power to participate in listed firms' corporate governance and to file civil lawsuits, the CSRC has said in an article on its website in reply to questions from investors.

The plan is part of an effort to improve the country's "relief mechanism" for retail investors, according to the article.[company registration in Hong Kong, Hong Kong company incorporation]