CRI听力:China Considers Stock Index Circuit Breaker, Scraps Dividend Tax for Long-term Investors

The planned introduction of an index circuit breaker system would be similar to trading-curb triggers currently used on the markets in New York.

It would help limit volatility by temporarily cutting off, or restricting, trading during intra-day periods when the market sees significant rises or drops.

Zhang Lan with GF Securities' Development Research Center says the creation of the system makes sense.

"The implementation of a circuit breaker system is already available in more mature markets. In case of extreme market volatility, the system will give investors more time to confirm whether a stock's price is reasonable. This will help prevent knee-jerk reactions by investors."

The China Securities Regulatory Commission is suggesting the trading-curbs kick-in after a 5 percent rise or fall in the CSI 300 Index from the previous day's close.

It would trigger a 30-minute suspension of all mainland trades, provided it happens before 2:30pm.

If there's a swing of 5-percent after 2:30pm, the markets will be shut down for the day.

But if the market sees a more dramatic swing, either up or down 7-percent from the previous close, the markets can be shut down for the rest of the day, regardless of what time it takes place.

Word of the new plans hasn't seemed to bother most professional traders in China.

GF Securities' Zhang Lan says they still expect the mainland markets to continue moving in a somewhat-uNPRedictable way in the short-term.

"Even if stocks rallied this Tuesday, it is still possible to see corrections in the future. I don't think we can determine whether the policy will be effective or not based on a single day's market performance. It's not a good idea to try to determine one-day's performance based on a policy announcement."

Meanwhile, in another move to try to bolster the markets, Chinese authorities have also announced that investors holding a stock for more than a year will be exempt from the 5-percent dividend tax as of this Tuesday.

Authorities have also cut the tax on dividends for those holding shares between a month and a year by half.

This is the latest in a string of moves by Chinese authorities to try to rejuvenate investment in the mainland markets.

China's A-Share market has lost around 2.5-trillion US dollars in value since mid-June.

In a speech over the weekend at a G20 meeting, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan says he still believes the markets in China are stabilizing.

Chen Xiaosheng with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities says it's their belief the worst may be over.

"From a market perspective, for the main board and the growth enterprise board, including small caps, market leverage has fallen sharply since the downturn. So it is fair to say that market risks have been eased to some extent."

Unlike markets in Developed economies, the vast majority of trading accounts on the mainland - around 80-percent - are held by individuals, rather than institutional firms.

It's for this reason PBOC Chief Zhou Xiaochang has told this past weekend's G20 finance and central bank leaders meeting in Turkey he feels the Chinese economy is going to weather any storm put forward by the equities markets.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.