A股出現停牌潮 China equity falls lead to sharp rise in groups suspending shares

Hundreds of Chinese companies have halted trading in their shares as Beijing struggles to insulate the economy from the country’s steepest equity decline in more than two decades.

數百家中國企業已將自己的股票停牌。目前北京方面正竭盡全力隔離中國經濟，使其不受逾20年來最劇烈的股市下滑的影響。

Another 173 groups listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen announced trading suspensions after the market closed last night, bringing the total to about 940, or more than a third of all listed companies on the two exchanges.

昨日又有173家在上海和深圳上市的集團在市場收盤後宣佈停牌，使停牌的股票總數達到942只，佔滬深股市所有上市公司的三分之一。

In a further sign of unease about the Chinese market, commodities were hit hard, led by copper. The price of copper futures on the London Metal Exchange dropped to its lowest level since 2009, falling 8.4 per cent in two days.

突顯人們對中國市場感到不安的另一個跡象是，大宗商品普遍遭受重創，其中銅價領跌。倫敦金屬交易所(London Metal Exchange)期銅價格跌至2009年以來最低水平，在兩天裏下跌8.4%。

Since hitting a seven-year high less than a month ago, stocks have suffered a precipitous decline sparked by a clampdown on margin finance — the use of borrowed money to buy shares — in response to worries about a bubble.

自不到一個月前觸及7年高點以來，中國股市急劇下跌，其觸發因素是當局針對有關市場可能存在泡沫的擔憂，採取措施控制保證金融資，即利用借來的錢購買股票的行爲。

About $3tn has been wiped off the value of all listed companies as retail investors have rushed to unwind leveraged bets on the market.

隨着散戶投資者競相退出對股市的槓桿化押注，上市公司整體已蒸發了大約3萬億美元市值。

The largest number of companies to suspend trading in their shares come from the tech-heavy ChiNext board in Shenzhen, which posted the biggest gains earlier this year and has since suffered the largest correction.

停牌數量最多的是以科技股爲主的深圳創業板(ChiNext)，該市場在今年早些時候漲幅最大，最近的調整幅度也最大。

Beijing has taken steps to keep stocks on China’s two main indices afloat, including direct purchases of large-cap companies, a halt to initial public offerings and a cut to trading fees. But so far its efforts have failed to staunch losses.

北京方面已採取措施支撐中國兩個主要股指的成份股，包括直接購買大盤股、停止首次公開發行(IPO)以及降低交易費。但到目前爲止，當局的努力未能止損。

“There is a panic but no matter how they [the authorities] jump in, this thing just doesn’t stop falling,” said Dong Tao, an economist at Credit Suisse.

“目前市場存在一股恐慌情緒，但不管他們（當局）怎麼幹預，都擋不住市場下跌，”瑞信(Credit Suisse)經濟學家陶冬表示。

Chinese stocks fell for a fourth session in the past five yesterday. The Shanghai Composite shed 1.3 per cent, while the Shenzhen Composite lost 5.3 per cent.

昨日中國股市在過去五個交易日第四次下跌。上證綜指(Shanghai Composite)下跌1.3%，深證成指(Shenzhen Composite)下跌5.3%。

The Shenzhen index is now up 36 per cent this year, having been up 122 per cent less than a month ago. The two indices have both dropped a third during the sell-off that began on June 12 in the country’s steepest decline since 1992, according to Bloomberg data.

按目前水平衡量，深證成指今年以來上漲36%，而不到一個月前的漲幅曾達到122%。在始於6月12日的此輪跌勢中，兩個股指雙雙下跌三分之一；根據彭博(Bloomberg)的數據，這是中國股市自1992年以來最劇烈的下挫。

Kevin Norrish, a commodities analyst at Barclays, said: “China is the largest consumer of copper. The growth outlook for China’s economy is uncertain. Added to this, a huge amount of money has gone into the Shanghai stock market, so as this market falls, there are worries this negative sentiment could feed back into the economy.”

巴克萊(Barclays)大宗商品分析師凱文•諾里斯(Kevin Norrish)表示：“中國是銅的最大消費國。目前中國經濟增長前景是不確定的。再加上此前大量資金涌入上海股市，因此隨着這一市場下跌，人們擔心這種負面情緒可能反饋至經濟。”

Shares listed offshore have also been hit. Hong Kong-listed Chinese stocks fell 3.3 per cent, erasing the year’s gains, while mainland groups with US listings lost the most since 2011 on Monday.

境外上市的股票也受到了重創。在香港上市的中國內地股票下跌3.3%，抹去了今年全部漲幅，而在美國上市的中資集團週一出現自2011年以來最大跌幅。

The accelerating share suspensions, which have frozen $1.4tn worth of equity according to Bloomberg calculations, are the latest step by the corporate sector to help halt the decline.

數量激增的股票停牌是企業部門幫助遏止股市跌勢的最新舉措。據彭博計算，停牌已凍結了價值1.4萬億美元的股票。