Investors make transactions at a brokerage firm in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province May 28, 2007. [Xinhua]

A blind man in Beijing, hoping to cash in on China's roaring stock market, was rejected by a brokerage firm when trying to open an account, a news report said on Monday.

The man surnamed Fan went to open an account with a brokerage firm in Fangshan on Friday, but was given the cold shoulder, reported the Beijing Evening News.

"You can't see the price movement, then how could you make the stock investment?" a female clerk at the brokerage firm allegedly said to Fan. "Why not just buy investment funds?"

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But Fan insisted on opening an account. Then the female clerk took out several forms and allegedly said: "All these forms have to be signed by the investors themselves. Can you do that?"

A friend of Fan's suggested the clerk let Fan hold her hand when signing the forms, but she refused, to the anger of Fan and his friend. They called the rejection discrimination against the disabled.

However, the head of the brokerage firm disagreed.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has demanded investors sign a series of documents, including one concerning risk alerts, but Fan couldn't read them, so the brokerage firm could not open an account for him, he explained.

As for the signing method proposed by Fan's friend, it might drag the brokerage firm into legal disputes when problems arise, noted the head of the brokerage firm, adding that he would like to apologize to Fan if he felt offended by the clerk's attitude.

What Fan attempted to do reflected a stock investment fever that is sweeping across China whose stock market has surged 60 percent so far this year on top of a 130 percent rally in 2006.

The number of accounts, including A-, B-shares and closed-end funds in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges reached 100.27 million by Monday, according to statistics from the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation.

The flood of novice investors into the market has worried regulators. The CSRC has asked investors to sign a declaration form, confirming that they knew of the risks when opening an account with a brokerage firm.

Former chairman of US Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan said last week China's stock market was clearly unsustainable and he expected a dramatic contraction at some point.

Greenspan's remarks followed warnings from Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing who said China's stock valuations "must be a bubble" and prices are likely to decline.