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China think-tank urges "independent" tech boards

SHANGHAI: A Shanghai stock exchange stock exchange has proposed that planned high-technology trading boards be kept independent from the main boards, the official China Securities newspaper said on Monday.

China's two stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen plan to set up second boards for technology issues this year.

Firms already listed on the main boards should not be transferred to the second boards, the newspaper quoted the Research Centre of the Shanghai Stock Exchange as saying in a report.

"The second board market should be independent of the main boards and operate in parallel," the research report said. "It should not operate with the same supervisory ideas and rules."

The report proposed less stringent standards for companies listing on the second boards, the newspaper said.

The minimum capital could be lowered to 30 million yuan ($3.62 million) compared with 50 million yuan for firms listed on the main boards, it said.

The exchange should allow firms to have a two-year history of operations and one year of profits, instead the three years of operations and profits required for companies listed on the main boards, the report said.-Reuters