CHINA has not closed its window for initial public offering (IPO) applications, the country’s securities regulator told a news conference Friday, responding to domestic media reports and investor concerns that another de facto freeze had been put in place.

    The China Securities Regulatory Commissions (CSRC) said investors should not misread a March 27 statement encouraging firms to choose the “appropriate time” to list as a signal that IPOs were being forcibly suspended.

    “That suggestion was in response to issues the market cares about. It did not mean forcing [firms to suspend applications], and it did not mean that the IPO application window is closed,” the regulator said.

    Over the last few days, some domestic media have reported that the IPO process had been informally put on hold after almost two months in which no new companies had listed, and some investment banking sources also said they believed IPOs were on hold.

    China allowed IPOs to resume in early 2014 after a hiatus of 14 months, allowing around 50 already approved companies to list on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges.

    However, market participants are still unclear when regulators will begin processing applications for the next batch of more than 700 companies still in the queue.

    Analysts expect a delay in the process, given the need to update corporate annual performance results to the end of 2013, a task that can take until the end of April. (SD-Agencies)