New group to assist public companies

China founded an association for public companies in Beijing on Wednesday to provide multiple listing services and protect their rights to help them improve how they operate.

The China Association for Public Companies is a national self-regulatory organization under the leadership of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). It has 228 ordinary members, many of which are blue-chip companies listing on the A-share market, such as China Vanke Co Ltd and China National Petroleum Corp.

"The duty of this organization is quite different from the CSRC," said Chen Taiqing, the president of the public companies' association, who was the previous deputy chief of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

It is a nongovernmental and nonprofit association that can support a company's development by expressing its voice, Chen said.

Guo Shuqing, chairman of the CSRC, said on Wednesday that the quality of China's stock markets should improve fast by promoting the operational management of listed companies.

"Public companies should improve investor return policies and prevent bigger shareholders holding too much capital," said Guo.

He also called for the speeding up of the listing of agricultural businesses, such as seed companies, to improve their international competitiveness.

The current average price-to-earning ratio of all public companies in China is about 15 — but less than 13 for blue chips such as the CSI 300. It shows "rarely high" investment value and "the average annual return can be about 8 percent", said Guo.

According to the CSRC, by the end of 2011, the number of China's listed companies was 2,342. They had a total market value of 21.48 trillion yuan, the third largest in the world.