Delisting rule change mulled for stock exchanges

Sunday brought to a close a consultation period for making suggestions about the rules that will govern delistings on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, according to China National Radio.

The report said the Shanghai Stock Exchange changed the circumstances under which a company may be delisted in several ways. First, delisting will occur if a company has negative net assets for two years in a row and records less than 10 million yuan ($1.58 million) in operating revenue in four years in a row.

Second, a company will be delisted if it has fewer than 5 million shares in aggregate trading volume for 120 consecutive trading days.

Third, delisting will occur if the closing price of a company's stock is lower than its par value for 30 consecutive trading days.

On the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the delisting conditions differ from those of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in two ways. First, a company will be delisted in Shenzhen if the balance of its guarantees exceeds 100 million yuan and if that takes up more than 100 percent of assets.

Second, delisting will occur if a related afflicted party illegally occupies more than 20 million yuan of the company's fund balance of more than 50 percent of its net assets.