Listed firms may be allowed to sell shares
. G( U4 T7 i2 A; v% S 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.+ Z3 S/ _" G' m2 ^4 \& o9 d
China is proceeding with a series of market reforms aimed at reviving its shares markets, which remain mired in a four-year slump.
1 ^ `) y4 K- P1 j' O. A N3 r 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.; h2 `1 Y. b# f
"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.
, t. ~' M* I( `# ^3 N+ @ 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.0 O. [' g; c& t
Last month, China scrapped capital gains taxes for foreign stock investors.- W# f) i0 n+ O ?! ^, M1 ~" l
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.
3 L; T; }1 E1 s4 g The index was Asia's worst performing major market benchmark stock index in both 2005 and 2004.- J2 y# p( Y4 `* s& D# l) x% G
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.
: L: Y& u2 Z, d4 G4 ~: ~2 ~: i @ 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.
2 A9 X! y' e) O3 G" O "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. |