The China Securities Regulatory Commission issued new rules on initial share sales on its Web site today, after a government program to trade more than $200 billion of mostly state-owned stockholdings was implemented without causing a market slump.

China halted share sales in May last year to prevent a flood of equity as companies converted non-tradable, mostly government holdings into common stock.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Air China Ltd. are among the nation's biggest companies that plan to sell domestic shares once the ban is lifted, tapping $1.9 trillion of household savings.

"It's the natural next step," said Geoff Lewis, head of investment services at JF Asset Management Ltd. in Hong Kong, which holds about $73 billion in Asian assets. "It's a testimony to the success of their policy. That's what the A share market is there for, to raise money," he said before the announcement.

Ending the ban may lure some of the $1.9 trillion of Chinese household savings out of banks and into equity markets as companies that are only listed overseas such as PetroChina Co. come back home to sell shares.

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