China's domestic securities market raised 772.8 billion yuan (about 106.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007, Shang Fulin, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said on Thursday.

 

Addressing a national securities regulation work meeting, he said the total turnover of the futures market hit 41 trillion yuan in 728 million transactions.

 

In 2007, a total of 1,550 companies were listed on the country's two bourses with a market value reaching 32.71 trillion yuan, he said. Among those, shares worth 9.31 trillion yuan entered the secondary market for trading.

 

Meanwhile, the number of active securities accounts in the country had reached 92 million, Shang added.

 

The bull market, in which the key Shanghai Composite Index nearly doubled last year, persuaded many low- and middle-income households to move money out of bank deposits and into stocks.

 

Those with relatively low monthly incomes of 2,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan accounted for 70 percent of all investors, according to official data.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2008)