BEIJING - China will advance the pilot China Depositary Receipts (CDRs) program in an active and steady manner to build an inclusive and competitive capital market, according to country's securities watchdog.

"China will adhere to international, legal, and market-based principles to actively and steadily advance the testing of issuance and trading of CDRs," said Li Chao, deputy head of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), at a forum last Friday.

The CSRC issued rules on a pilot program for issuance and trading of CDRs last Wednesday, paving the way for innovative firms to issue CDRs in the domestic capital market, according to the CSRC.

Li said the CSRC will strictly control the number of enterprises and volume of funding for the pilot CDRs program, strictly review the quality of enterprises, and supervise the process of CDRs issuance.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi submitted the country's first application to issue a CDR last Thursday, according to the CSRC.

According to the prospectus filed by Xiaomi, the Beijing-based company will dual-list both in the domestic market and Hong Kong.