New share listing system reaches approval stage

The draft of a registration-based new share listing system has been completed will be reported to the State Council by Sunday, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on Friday.

Zhang Xiaojun, a spokesman for CSRC said the commission had led the establishment of a working group for the reform, with members including the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, People's Bank of China, the Legal Affairs Office of the State Council, China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

"The draft has been finished and the advice of sponsor institutions, experts and members of the working group has been sought," said Zhang. "It will be reported to the State Council before the end of November".

The CSRC will only be responsible for examining applicants' qualifications, leaving investors and the markets to make their own judgments about a company's value and the risks of buying its shares.

Previously, companies aspiring to list on China's stock markets had to undergo a review and approval process, where the CSRC had sole discretion to decide whether a company was fit to list.

The CSRC has been promising to reform the country's IPO system since 2013, with the State Council stressing the need repeatedly, according to Xinhua news.

China's cabinet pushed the scrapping of the requirement that only companies with continuous years of profit are eligible to go public at a State Council meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

Chinese stocks rallied for a seventh day on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbing 1.99 percent to 2,682.84.

The measure has advanced about 10.9 percent this week and 26.9 percent so far this year, heading for the biggest annual gain since 2009.