CHINA'S securities regulator will allow retail investors to trade unlisted shares in a new national over-the-counter market that it plans to set up.

At a conference in Beijing yesterday, Yao Gang, vice chairman of the CSRC, said: "When the trial OTC market goes nationwide in the future, we plan to let investors enter the market but they must meet certain requirements such as investment experience."

Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said last month that preparations for the new OTC board, similar to the OTC Bulletin Board in the US, were under way.

The new OTC board may start in July or August, according to media reports. The location of the OTC market was not mentioned.

China started a pilot OTC board in Beijing's Zhongguancun area in 2006 for high-technology companies. As of April, 115 unlisted companies were traded on the board.

Transactions of nearly 600 million yuan (US$95.29 million) were recorded on the Beijing OTC board last year.

Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing also have OTC exchanges that trade unlisted equities. Listed companies are traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

Shanghai's OTC market was launched in February under the supervision of the Shanghai Financial Services Office.

Source:shanghaidaily