中国将进一步降低股市的交易费用

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said in an online statement that the transaction fees of A shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen boards will be cut by 20 percent on September 1.

The China Securities Depository and Clearing Corp will also reduce registration fees for A-share transactions on the Shanghai bourse by 20 percent, and according to the statement, the trading costs on China's four major futures exchange platforms will be cut by 6.25 percent to 50 percent.

Yao Guang, General Manager of Galaxy Futures Company, says reducing transaction fees lowers the cost of trading for investors.

"For example, we previously paid one yuan for a certain amount of goods, but now, we only need to pay 0.1 yuan for the same amount of goods. So, the cost of trading is lower, and investors will get more benefits. What's more important is that lowering of the trading cost is in line with the international market."

The latest cut marks the third this year, following two adjustments in the past two months.

On June 1, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges lowered the transaction costs of A shares by 25 percent, and cut the transaction commissions of futures products by 30 percent.

Last month, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance jointly announced that the CSRC would reduce securities trading fees from 0.04 percent of the annual transaction value to 0.02 percent, while also removing the regulation fees for securities investment funds and bonds.

According to the CSRC, the three cuts will save around 15.5 billion yuan, or about 2.4 billion US dollars, in trading costs for investors this year, based on the trading volumes in 2011.

Chinese stock markets hit their lowest levels in half a year in July. Also, the National Bureau of Statistics said last month that the country's GDP growth was 7.6 percent in the second quarter, the lowest figure in three years.

Some analysts say the weaker profitability of Chinese listed companies has depressed investor confidence and added pressure to capital markets; however, they point out that by reducing trading costs the efficiency of capital markets will be boosted. The lower fees may help optimize the market in the following months.

Tang Yonggang, an analyst from Hong Yuan Securities believes the market may rebound slightly in the second half due to a stronger economic outlook. But he also reminds investors to be cautious.

"From the historical point of view and based on market discipline, increase and decrease in trading costs may not be able to change the developing trend in the market. It may only bring a small impact over a short period. Although a slight rebound will be probably seen in the market due to lowering trading costs, the slumping market won't change dramatically."

According to the CSRC, the market-oriented reform will continue with improved supervision to protect the investors' interests and boost the market. Three packages of regulations for insurers' investments in the capital market are under review and are expected to be released for public consultation. The packages may include rules for investing in securities, equities and property.

For CRI, I am Wang Wei.