BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Japan's largest securities trader Nomura has become the first foreign player to plan the setting up of a holding firm in China, after the country eased market access to the securities sector.

The company aims to hold 51 percent of the new firm's stakes and has submitted application materials to China's top securities watchdog, according to Gao Li, spokesperson with the China Securities Regulation Commission (CSRC).

"The CSRC will review Nomura's application materials based on related laws and compliance regulations, and in an efficient manner," Gao said in a statement released Tuesday.

Nomura also announced Tuesday that it had appointed Lu Ting, former chief economist with Huatai Securities, to be its chief China economist.

The CSRC rolled out guidelines in late April allowing foreign investors to set up securities trading firms with holding status as part of China's opening-up efforts in the financial sector.

International investment bank UBS decided earlier this month to raise its stakes in the joint-venture China-based UBS Securities Co., which is the first foreign-invested fully-licensed securities firm in China.