20% of mainland stocks still frozen

576 companies, or about a fifth of mainland China’s stock market, remained frozen on Monday, raising doubts about the sustainability of a rebound, Bloomberg reported. The halted firms are worth RMB4 trillion (US$644 billion) and are valued at an average of 243 times reported earnings. The Shanghai Composite Index has climbed about 14% from its low on July 8, following a 32% fall that helped erase almost US$4 trillion in value. “When half the market becomes illiquid, that was a sign that China had regressed, they’re not willing to accept the ups and downs of a capital market,” Roshan Padamadan, founder and manager of Luminance Global Fund.