By Song Hongmei (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-08-01 16:34

Chinese investors opened more new mutual fund accounts than stock accounts on Monday for the first time since May 31, according to statistics from China's clearing house.

Special coverage: Markets Watch Related readings:  Individual investors need more education  New accounts surge in A-share markets  Investors open 4.7m new accounts  Nationwide mad bull fever

China's major stock index advanced further in the past week and jumped 2.2 percent to a new record high of 4,440.77 on Monday.

Stimulated by the bull run, the number of newly opened trading accounts in China has gradually increased. Investors opened 388,952 accounts at brokerages on Monday, including 163,451 A-share accounts, 1,208 B-share accounts and 224,293 fund accounts.

It is the first time in the past two months that the number of new fund accounts has exceeded that of A-share accounts, according to figures from the China Securities Depository and Clearing Co.

On July 30, the number of trading accounts in China reached a total of 109.63 million, including 93.68 million A-share accounts, 2.24 million B-share accounts and 13.71 million fund accounts, the clearing house's data shows.