A股出现停牌潮 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.

数百家中国企业已将自己的股票停牌。目前北京方面正竭尽全力隔离中国经济，使其不受逾20年来最剧烈的股市下滑的影响。

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团在市场收盘后宣布停牌，使停牌的股票总数达到942只，占沪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.

突显人们对中国市场感到不安的另一个迹象是，大宗商品普遍遭受重创，其中铜价领跌。伦敦金属交易所(London Metal Exchange)期铜价格跌至2009年以来最低水平，在两天里下跌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.

自不到一个月前触及7年高点以来，中国股市急剧下跌，其触发因素是当局针对有关市场可能存在泡沫的担忧，采取措施控制保证金融资，即利用借来的钱购买股票的行为。

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

随着散户投资者竞相退出对股市的杠杆化押注，上市公司整体已蒸发了大约3万亿美元市值。

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.

停牌数量最多的是以科技股为主的深圳创业板(ChiNext)，该市场在今年早些时候涨幅最大，最近的调整幅度也最大。

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.

北京方面已采取措施支撑中国两个主要股指的成份股，包括直接购买大盘股、停止首次公开发行(IPO)以及降低交易费。但到目前为止，当局的努力未能止损。

“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.

“目前市场存在一股恐慌情绪，但不管他们（当局）怎么干预，都挡不住市场下跌，”瑞信(Credit Suisse)经济学家陶冬表示。

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.

昨日中国股市在过去五个交易日第四次下跌。上证综指(Shanghai Composite)下跌1.3%，深证成指(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，深证成指今年以来上涨36%，而不到一个月前的涨幅曾达到122%。在始于6月12日的此轮跌势中，两个股指双双下跌三分之一；根据彭博(Bloomberg)的数据，这是中国股市自1992年以来最剧烈的下挫。

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.”

巴克莱(Barclays)大宗商品分析师凯文•诺里斯(Kevin Norrish)表示：“中国是铜的最大消费国。目前中国经济增长前景是不确定的。再加上此前大量资金涌入上海股市，因此随着这一市场下跌，人们担心这种负面情绪可能反馈至经济。”

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创。在香港上市的中国内地股票下跌3.3%，抹去了今年全部涨幅，而在美国上市的中资集团周一出现自2011年以来最大跌幅。

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.

数量激增的股票停牌是企业部门帮助遏止股市跌势的最新举措。据彭博计算，停牌已冻结了价值1.4万亿美元的股票。