ANALYSTS covering Shanghai Petrochemical's listing on the Hongkong stock exchange have turned their backs on the flotation and are recommending that clients avoid subscribing. Out of 11 brokerages - none linked to the flotation - questioned yesterday, only one recommended the subscription. Of the remainder, seven recommended that clients should avoid the subscription, one was neutral and three would make no comment. One broker said: ''Hongkong is a pretty lonely place right now for anyone underwriting Shanghai Petrochemical.'' The broker recommending subscription to the issue of 1.68 million H shares, of which some 840,000 could be offered in Hongkong at $1.74, was Kim Eng Securities. No one was available at the brokerage yesterday to comment on the recommendation. Nomura Research Institute was neutral on the issue, a broker spokesman said yesterday. Those making no comment were US-based Morgan Stanley and Hongkong-based Standard Chartered Asia and Wardley James Capel. The two local brokers said the issue was too sensitive for them to comment on. Their merchant bank arms last week withdrew from any underwriting role. Brokers recommending clients avoid subscription were: Asia Equity, Barclays de Zoete Wedd, Credit Lyonnais, Crosby Securities, HG Asia, SBCI, Schroders Securities and Smith New Court. Analysts said the pricing of the issue was too high and had led them to recommend avoiding the subscription and to pick up stock at a later date on weakness. At SBCI, analyst Lawrence Ang said: ''There are too many questions surrounding the issue. At the end of it this company remains a state enterprise with significant levels of government influence. ''This is definitely not one for short-term investors looking to stag and the long-term investor has plenty of time to pick up stock cheaper later.'' Analysts said despite the structural problems associated with the company it remained a core infrastructure holding in China for the long-term investor. However, analysts were unhappy about the size of the issue, the heavy level of subsidy attached to the group's operations and the lack of certainty surrounding the Chinese Government's ability to determine the group's crude oil price and end-products prices.