China stocks fall on fears of IPO resumptions

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares ended a two-day rise by dropping slightly on Thursday over fears that authorities will resume initial public offering (IPO) approvals.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.98 percent, or 22.89 points, to end at 2,324.29. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.40 percent, or 37.47 points, to 9,393.69.

Combined turnover on the two bourses shrank to 251.8 billion yuan (40.48 billion U.S. dollars) from 254.8 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Yao Gang, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), on Thursday said IPOs on China's stock market may resume after March 31, "in principle."

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation's biggest listed lender, shed 0.96 percent to 4.13 yuan per share. China Construction Bank Corp. lost 2.14 percent to 4.57 yuan per share.

CITIC Securities Co., China's biggest listed brokerage, lost 2.85 percent to 13.98 yuan per share.

The CSRC has seldom issued IPO approvals since last June, and no companies have been listed over the past five months.

However, companies are lining up for IPOs. Nearly 900 companies were awaiting IPO approval as of February, according to CSRC figures.

To tackle the problem, in December, the CSRC asked the broker agencies of all IPO applicants to investigate the financial status of applicants and file reports to the commission before March 31. Then, the CSRC would conduct selective checks on the firms.

Prior to the IPO suspension, many investors had blamed the CSRC for approving too many IPOs and turning the capital market into a place where companies, some of which manipulated their financial reports, could amass great wealth overnight.