China further cuts stock trading costs to lift confidence

 BEIJING, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced Thursday that it will further cut stock market transaction fees in a bid to ease burdens on investors¹ amid sluggish² market sentiment.

The regulator said in an online statement that the transaction fees of A shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses will be cut by 20 percent on Sept. 1.

China Securities Depository and Clearing Corp. will also reduce the registration³ fee for A-share transactions on the Shanghai bourse by 20 percent, and the trading costs on China's four major futures⁴ exchange platforms will be cut by 6.25 percent to 50 percent, according to the statement.

The latest announcement marked the third such cuts this year, following two adjustments in June and July, as China moves to reform its capital market to improve efficiency.

If calculating based on the trading volumes in 2011, the three cuts will save around 15.5 billion yuan (2.46 billion U.S. dollars) in trading costs for investors this year, according to the CSRC.

After hitting a fresh low of 2,103.63 in more than three years on Tuesday, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,111.18 on Thursday.

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

3 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

4 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。