Exchange tightens up rules on shareholders

The Shanghai Stock Exchange on Thursday tightened the rules governing the disclosure of large shareholders' decisions to increase their stakes. The move aims to prevent price manipulation and protect minority shareholders.

The new rules, which came in response to an amendment on takeover regulations by the China Securities Regulatory Commission earlier this year, requires a shareholder to make a public information disclosure if it has a 30 to 50 percent stake in a public company and plans to buy additional shares amounting to less than 2 percent within the next 12 months.

The exchange's existing takeover rules stipulate that a shareholder must make a public tender offer if it holds more than 30 percent of a public company and wants to buy more than 2 percent over the next 12 months.