China International Capital Corp. (CICC), the country’s premier investment bank, plans to merge with two smaller peers in a share-swap restructuring designed to reshape the nation’s securities industry and bolster its competitiveness against global banking giants.

CICC on Wednesday proposed combining with Dongxing Securities Co. and Cinda Securities Co. as part of an effort to support China’s broader financial market reforms and accelerate the development of its capital markets. The merged entities will have combined capital of 11.3 billion yuan ($1.6 billion), according to a company statement.