Retail investors have opened more mutual fund accounts to rake in more earnings from China's robust stock markets.

According to China Securities Clearing Co., Ltd., newly opened mutual fund accounts numbered 5.12 million in August, six times that in July.

Out of the 23 trading days in August, 18 saw the opening of more than 100,000 fund accounts, with a daily record of 600,000 accounts, sources with the clearing company said.

Interim reports of the mutual funds showed that individual investors accounted for 88.5 percent of total fund holdings, up 14 percentage points from the first half of last year, whereas the institutional investors' share decreased from 25.49 percent to 11.5 percent.

Earlier reports said in the first half of this year, Chinese bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen raised 188 billion yuan (24.9 billion U.S. dollars), with a daily turnover of 202.7 billion yuan, up 440 percent year-on-year.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2007)