Shenzhen Stock Exchange Photo:VCG

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange announced to waive fees for the year 2022 for companies listed on the exchange, joining other two mainland stock exchanges in support of market entities amid the worst COVID-19 flare-ups in two years.

In a statement released on Friday, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said Shenzhen-listed companies will be exempted from any initial listing fee, annual listing fees, and online voting service fees of shareholders' meetings this year, a move seen as part of the regulatory efforts to balance epidemic prevention and economic and social development.

The statement came one day after the mainland's other two stock exchanges also issued similar fee exemption rules. On Thursday, the Shanghai Stock Exchange announced a waiver throughout 2022 of initial and annual listing fees for companies registered in Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, East China's Shandong Province, Northeast China's Jilin Province, East China's Shanghai Municipality and other regions where the COVID-19 virus is rife in support of local responses to COVID-19 flare-ups.

On the same day, the Beijing Stock Exchange also announced the waiver of annual listing fees for companies registered in Shenzhen, Inner Mongolia, Shandong Province, Jilin Province and Shanghai this year.

In addition to the fee exemption, the Shenzhen stock exchange also introduced a series of flexible measures in terms of listing review and regulatory supervision, in an aim to increase support to companies facing temporary production and operation difficulties.

For instance, during the listing examination process, if the intermediaries are unable to respond to the inquiry and complete due diligence within the prescribed period of time due to the impact of the epidemic , the Shenzhen stock exchange shall, upon application, agree to suspend the examination to give issuers and intermediaries more time for the preparation of the inquiry reviews.

As for corporate supervision, considering the difficulties facing some listed companies that have been seriously affected by the epidemic, the stock exchange will allow listed companies to appropriately delay disclosure of their 2021 annual reports and provide free platform support service for companies to hold online performance presentations.

China is battling its worst outbreaks in two years. The National Health Commission reported on Saturday morning 2,157 new local cases with confirmed symptoms and 1,713 domestically transmitted asymptomatic cases.

Global Times