Listings to resume soon: CSRC

The China Securities and Regulatory Commission has announced that listings will soon resume on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges following significant progress in the non-tradable to tradable share reform. The CSRC said private placements would return first, followed by rights shares and finally initial public offerings. The introduction of private placements will allow companies to sell large amounts of share capital directly to certain investors, which may include foreign strategic investors. The move came as part of a series of measures, including changes encouraging listed firms to pay dividends, plans for a more market-oriented system of pricing and timing of additional share offerings, and alterations aimed at making it easier to sell corporate bonds. The CSRC said it would accept public comments on the new rules until April 22 but gave no indication when they would come into effect.