Investors welcome big promise
9/3/2005 8:29
Li Geng, president of Henan Xinfei Electric Co Ltd and
also a National People¡¯s Congress deputy, said yesterday the government
working report about protecting the rights of nonstate-owned enterprises has
reassured investors that a fair play environment will be created. (Photo:
Xinhua)
Premier Wen Jiabao's promise to protect the rights of
minority shareholders on Saturday has been welcomed by investors, who have
suffered heavy losses on the stock markets over the past four years.
Rampant
market irregularities by listed firms, lack of action from regulators to crack
down on the irregularities, as well as structural problems have been blamed by
experts and investors for the bearish market performance during the past four
years. Most minority stock holders are bitter after losing heavily during the
period.
Chinese stock markets hit five year record lows in the past two
months despite consistently impressive economic growth rates.
Yan, a Beijing
investor, said Wen's promise sent a clear message government departments will
consider investors when dealing with the securities sector.
Regulating the
market according to the law is vital for investors to regain confidence, Yan
said.
He said Chinese stock markets would be less risky for investors if the
regulators, listed firms, securities firms and accounting offices were honest
and acted in accordance with the law.
Some listed firms, mostly state-owned,
have fabricated figures to fool investors in public offerings and make promises
they never intend to honor. Yet few firms were properly punished.
But most
experts said the lackluster market performance has been caused by a structural
problem - the split share structure resulting from the planned economy.
This
refers to the existence of a large volume of non-tradable shares. Only about
one-third of shares in domestically listed companies are floated on the
market.
Xinhua
|
