COMPETITION BREWING: Tea farmers compete for the "king of tea production" at the 2014 China Tea Conference in Xinchang, east China's Zhejiang Province, on April 15 (WANG XIAOCHUAN)

IPO Market

China's securities regulator on April 11 denied rumors that the country's initial public offering (IPO) market has been shut down.

The clarification came after the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in late March suggested companies planning an IPO should "choose a reasonable timing" for IPO application.

The CSRC urged the companies to go to the New Third Board, a national share transfer system for SMEs to transfer shares and raise funds, or seek IPOs overseas.

"This is just a suggestion by the CSRC in response to questions raised by the market. This is neither mandatory nor does it mean the IPO application window is shut down," said Zhang Xiaojun, spokesman of the CSRC.

The suggestions were made in March because, in the words of the regulator, "a large number of IPO applications were still pending approval and new applicants would have to wait for a relatively long period."

New rules governing IPOs would also result in stricter requirements for information disclosure and more responsibilities for the issuer and sponsor, the CSRC said.

Zhang said the CSRC was just reminding issuers and sponsors of the current special circumstances and suggesting they choose the right equity trading market.

"This would help avoid worsening the already crowded IPO channel. For those companies who have decided to file an IPO application, they should time it reasonably to avoid extra cost and burden on themselves."

China imposed a moratorium on IPOs in October 2012 as the country worked to reform a market featuring a pricing system that had led to consistently excessive offering prices. The authorities reopened the market for IPOs at the end of 2013.

FTA Talks

China and Australia on April 12 voiced hopes to hasten negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and strike a deal as soon as possible.

Meeting with entrepreneurs together with visiting Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said economic and trade cooperation between the two countries is now on the fast track.

"It is a common aspiration of businessmen from both countries and also an important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries to speed up the FTA negotiations," Wang said.

The role of the government, Wang said, is to "build roads and bridges" for enterprises and provide them with convenient, safe and efficient services.

Wang called on both governments to meet halfway and show flexibility in the FTA negotiations to make tangible progress at an early date.

For his part, Abbott said development of economic and trade relations between Australia and China had moved rapidly in recent years and he expected an FTA deal at the earliest possible opportunity.

Initiated in 2005, talks between Australia and China on the FTA have gone through 19 rounds so far. If a deal is signed, it would be the first FTA between China and a major developed economy, giving Australian agricultural produce easier access to the enormous Chinese market.

China is Australia's largest trade partner and biggest export market, while Australia is Chinese enterprises' largest overseas investment destination country.

According to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, bilateral trade reached $136.4 billion in 2013, up 11.5 percent from 2012.

Abbott said Australia would like to be a long-term, stable provider of energy, resources and food to China, adding that he hopes to see more and more Chinese enterprises invest in Australia and promising to facilitate their business.