China toughens capital market supervision

BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua): Those involved in illegal capital market activities have reasons to be fearful in 2018 as China's top securities watchdog takes a tougher stance on market irregularities.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) rejected six of seven initial public offering (IPO) applications Tuesday, making it the biggest single day of rejections this year.

"The IPO review will become more and more strict in 2018, and the requirement for the authenticity of corporate finance and the business compliance has been raised to an unprecedented level," the CSRC said in a statement.

The tightened control of the country's public listings was the latest move following toughened market oversight and severe punishment for illegal trading in the past year to prevent risks and protect investor interests.

To curb market irregularities, the CSRC last October set up a new committee in charge of reviewing IPO applications. The committee has the ultimate say in deciding whether a company is qualified to go public in China.