BEIJING - China will turn to the capital market to help finance businesses in poor areas, the country's security watchdog said on Wednesday.

Companies in poor areas will be encouraged to get listed and rules for IPOs will be relaxed for them, said Jiang Yang, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), during a working conference.

Companies from western regions and five autonomous ethnic regions will receive favorable polices and expense deductions when applying for IPOs, said Jiang.

More capital will fund agricultural projects to support leading agricultural companies, Jiang added.

CSRC data showed that 21 agricultural companies were successfully listed from 2007 to the end of November this year with the total amount of financing reaching 15.9 billion yuan ($2.5 billion).