China’s securities regulator issued rules on Thursday to restrict share sales by listed companies’ major shareholders, saying the move will stabilise market expectations but doesn’t signal an imminent exit of the “national team’’ of investors.

Major shareholders must not sell more than 1 per cent of a listed company’s share capital through stock exchanges’ centralised bidding system every three months, according to the rules published by the China Securities Regulatory Commission that will take effect on January 9.

In addition, major shareholders must file their plans 15 trading days in advance of sales.