CHINA’S securities regulator said Friday that it has stopped reviewing the listing application of China Postal Express & Logistics Co., which had planned to raise 9.98 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) in an initial public offering (IPO).

    The China Securities Regulatory Commission didn’t say why it had terminated its review. Terminating a review doesn’t constitute a rejection. The commission terminates its review of an IPO plan if the applicant doesn’t respond to questions from the commission within the given time or the applicant voluntarily withdraws its IPO application.

    The IPO proposal by the Beijing-based logistics company, a unit of State-owned China Post Group, had already gotten the go-ahead from the regulator in 2012. Before going public, it needs a final certification from the regulator. However, a year-long IPO hiatus hindered the company from pushing ahead with the IPO.

    China shut the door to IPOs in the country in November 2012 in an effort to support the stock market, analysts said.

    China’s regulator said in late November that around 50 firms are expected to have IPO preparations done in time for them to list by January 2014, indicating a reopening of the IPO floodgate.

    Among the 83 firms given the regulatory green light before the IPO moratorium, China Postal Express is the second-largest IPO in terms of the amount of funds planned to be raised. The largest is by Shanxi Coal Mining, which in its 2011 preliminary prospectus said it wanted to raise 17.3 billion yuan.

    Market participants said the 83 firms could be the first to go public in the upcoming restart of the IPO market in China.

    The regulator has stopped its review of applications by nearly 300 firms queuing for listing so far this year. (SD-Agencies)