Securities regulators will try to raise investors' risk
awareness with a new department to handle the matter, said Huang
Xiangping, chairman of the Securities Association of China
(SAC).
The new department would develop plans for risk education as
well as organize and supervise education initiatives, he said.
The move reflects concern at the China Securities Regulatory
Commission (CSRC) that many first-time small investors could
sustain huge losses out of ignorance of the risks involved. That
concern has been magnified by the worry that markets are likely to
be volatile this year.
There were about 138 million stock trading accounts at the
Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses at the end of 2007, up from 78.1
million a year earlier. The bull market, in which the key Shanghai
Composite Index nearly doubled last year, persuaded many low- and
middle-income households to move money out of bank deposits and
into equities. Those with relatively low monthly incomes of 2,000
yuan (276 U.S. dollars) to 5,000 yuan accounted for 70 percent of
all investors.
Huang also suggested that the CSRC follow the practice of
developed markets such as Britain and Japan to set up fund for risk
education and gradually bring it into the national education
system.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2008)
