Securities regulator warns of speculation amid CDRs launch

2018-06-18
CGTN

China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) warned investors of the potential losses arising from speculation in tech stocks, amid the launch of Chinese Depository Receipts (CDRs) as a new funding way for innovative enterprises.

“We warn domestic investors of the need to be fully aware of the investment risk of innovative enterprises, to prudently participate in investment in [CDR] trial enterprises, to refrain from following the trend of speculation,” said CSRC spokesperson Gao Li.

Large investment features innovative enterprises, high risk and vulnerability to upset, according to the securities regulator. It stated that it will implement stricter assessment and pricing procedures of their CDRs issuance to forestall risk.

The country is launching CDRs to allow overseas-listed Chinese tech giants to seek a secondary listing at the A-share market, hoping that it is conducive to the return of the innovators and thus boosting both domestic capital market and tech industry.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is the first such company to issue CDRs, as it submitted the CDRs application within 24 hours after CSRC introduced the rules. The application was then disclosed by CSRC in one week and will be reviewed by the regulator on June 19.

If Xiaomi gets the nod from CSRC, it will have spent just two weeks awaiting approval, making it the quickest ever approval for a listing in the Chinese mainland. Usually, applicants can expect to wait for several months to get approved.