IPO reform may take time: CSRC chairman

A registration system for issuing IPOs in China is unlikely to be launched in 2014, as the modification process of the current Securities Law may need more time, said Xiao Gang, chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission, on Wednesday.[Special coverage]

"One of the key tasks for the CSRC in 2014 is to improve reforms for changing the IPO verification system into a registration model, and a draft plan is likely to form by the end of this year," said Xiao during the annual session of the National People's Congress.

However, difficulties from the country's outdated stock market trading mechanism and law environment may delay the reform, he said. "More related measures should be improved before implementing the registration system, including more mature administrative supervision and market participants."

According to the CSRC chairman, a possible reform model will be based on the state of the Chinese stock market, which is different from other countries' experiences.

The CSRC has suspended verification of IPO applications since Dec 6, after the commission announced it would reopen new share issuances on Nov 30, as excessively high prices for the new shares appeared. The last IPO suspended period continued for 18 months.

About 700 companies are still waiting in the IPO application line so far, according to the CSRC.

Analysts expect there may be no new IPOs in the market until the end of the ongoing two sessions.