On April 11, the China Securities Regulatory Commission ("CSRC") issued the Decision on Revising the Administrative Measures for Initial Public Offerings and Listing of Stocks (the "Decision"), with effect from the date of issuance.

According to the Decision, the guiding principle underpinning the revised measures is to revise Paragraph 1 of Article 9 thereof by unifying the application of the "three-year establishment period for an issuer" in the main boards, the ChiNext Board and the SSE STAR Market, without altering the stock issuance approval system adopted by the main boards of the Shanghai Stock Exchange ("SSE") and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange ("SZSE"). Upon revision, the overall framework of the measures will remain unchanged, which still consist of 59 articles in six chapters, namely, general provisions, issuance conditions, issuance procedures, information disclosure, regulation and punishment, and supplementary provisions. The revision involves Paragraph 1 of Article 9, which is revised to read: "An issuer shall have more than three years of continuous operation upon its establishment of a joint stock limited company".

(Source: China Securities Regulatory Commission)