Listed firms may be allowed to sell shares3 O% C$ N/ u% k+ _5 U
The country's regulators will consider allowing listed firms to sell shares as a first step toward lifting its suspension on new IPOs in domestic markets, but no timetable has been set, domestic media reported Monday. China is proceeding with a series of market reforms aimed at reviving its shares markets, which remain mired in a four-year slump.
* t% l* K6 _3 O$ H0 R; s9 ] In mid-2005, China suspended new IPOs in domestic markets in an effort to prop up sagging stock prices, weighed down by investor concerns over the share-reform plan to sell more than US$250 billion in State-held shares.
2 O) S2 F+ n! F/ L "We will look at allowing listed companies to sell shares before approving any new IPOs," the Financial News quoted Shang Fulin, the top securities regulator, as saying at a conference.
2 h/ T& F2 K; n/ [8 a0 h( j {( z Reforms in state-held shares need to be built upon solid capital markets, said Shang, adding that the last mile of reforms would be the most difficult.% y6 T' x& Y# a! M; |* k$ k
Last month, China scrapped capital gains taxes for foreign stock investors.! V. B/ I! R s" k: ]' O" q; g$ p) G
The government is intensifying efforts to lure foreign cash into its main stock market, via a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme that lets overseas firms invest in primary stock and debt markets.6 R2 Z+ h$ u/ n9 Z2 ]4 S
The index was Asia's worst performing major market benchmark stock index in both 2005 and 2004.
j8 U! @; L* S( N. K& K" M$ K While trying to reform inefficient capital markets to give domestic firms another fund-raising option besides banks, China is also trying to enhance corporate transparency and boost profitability.
- d" u: R0 g* z/ g Shang's comments come after a leading economic official said Saturday that efforts to revive its sickly stock markets are likely to work only if "poor quality" listed companies are eliminated from trading.
* w2 O: A z" z( v "Raising the quality of China's listed companies is the only permanent cure that can ensure public investors' fundamental interests," said Cheng Siwei, a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. |