China's stock market regulator will require companies listed on the country's Shenzhen start-up board to disclose more information to investors, the latest move by China to tighten the supervision of its often unruly capital markets.
Under its new boss, Guo Shuqing, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has been waging a campaign to combat market manipulation and boost the transparency of the country's stock markets.
The rules, issued on Friday, require companies listed on ChiNext enterprise board to provide additional non-financial information to investors, including key performance indicators, budgets for research and development and an explanation of main risks and advantages.
The statement also clarified that companies listed on ChiNext will also have to comply with rules issued in October requiring listed companies to keep records on people with access to information that could influence share prices, a step aimed at curbing insider trading.
China launched its enterprise board in 2009 to help small- and medium-sized companies get better access to capital. But analysts have warned about excessively high valuations and shoddy corporate governance.
ChiNext is part of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the smaller of the mainland's two exchanges. In its statement, the regulator also said that companies would need to disclose their dividend policies and records for the past three years.