Beijing has started the countdown to the establishment of a more relaxed initial public offering (IPO) system, with a so-called registration mechanism likely to be introduced by the end of the year.
The National People's Congress (NPC) began reviewing amendments to the securities law on Monday, paving the way for the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to revamp an IPO system currently dependent on official approvals.
Sources close to the CSRC said the new system, which would see the CSRC relinquish its responsibilities for assessing IPO applications and approving share floatations, could be kicked off as early as October after three rounds of reviews on changes to the securities law.
The existing securities law stipulates that IPOs cannot be launched on the mainland without an official green light.
"The securities law appears to be the last technical issue for the switch to the registration system," said Wei Wei, an analyst with West China Securities. "It's about time."
The NPC's third round review of the changes to the securities law is expected to take place in October.