Watchdog moves to encourage cash dividends

China's securities watchdog is working on measures to reduce the cost of issuing cash dividends for listed companies.

A senior official from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on Thursday afternoon that the commission is making adjustments to current taxation policies to reduce the taxation costs for securities firms and listed companies. At present listed companies are taxed on dividends.

The CSRC's measures are intended to encourage the issuing of dividends and increase returns for investors. In 2011, 1,386 domestic China stocks offered cash dividends of 39 billion yuan. They constituted 57.1 percent of the total 2,428 domestic stocks. Dividends paid out were 29 percent more than in 2010.