Economic Observer Online
August 3, 2012
Translated by Zhu Na
Original article: [Chinese]

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced yesterday that Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange, China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited and four of the county's futures exchanges will lower the transaction fees charged on A-shares and futures trades.

This is the second time in less than three months that the security regulator has lowered the transaction charge.

The new rate will take effect from Sept 1, 2012.

It is expected that the move will save investors in both securities and futures a total of 15.5 billion yuan in transaction costs this year.

An official from the CSRC said that on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, the transaction fees for A-share trades will be 0.0069 percent of the transaction value, which represent a decrease of 20 percent from the current rate.

Trades at the Shanghai branch of the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation will be charged a fee of 0.03 percent of the total transaction amount, also a 20 percent discount on the current rate.

Transaction fees for different kinds of future trades on the various futures exchanges will be lowered by between 6.25 percent and 50 percent.

Overall transaction fees at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Zhengzhou Futures Exchange and Dalian Futures Exchange will be lowered by 26 percent, 17 percent and 15.5 percent respectively.

Both of China's main stock indexes are currently hovering around their lowest points in three years.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.02 percent to 2,132.8 points on Friday, which is close to where it started the week and also just slightly above its lowest closing point in three years.

Predictions on the future of the market are mixed. Some observers foresee further decreases as new IPOs absorb capital from the market amid grim American and European growth prospects, while others interpret the historic lows as leaving the market nowhere to go but up.