The China Securities Regulatory Commission granted online trading licenses to nine additional brokerage houses Thursday.

The move means 107 of the country's 131 brokers have the right to trade stocks over the Internet for clients.

The nine little-known securities firms, including Xintai Securities Co and Xing'an Securities Co, will join some of the country's leading brokers, such as Haitong Securities Co Ltd and Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co Ltd, in trading shares online.

In October, online stock trading accounted for 17.92 percent of all shares traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges.

"Online trading will be the major stock trading method in the future, as it is cheaper and more convenient," said Wu Jie, a trader with Kinghing Securities Co Ltd.

On average, Chinese brokers charge public investors a 0.1 percent commission for buying and selling shares over the Internet, while the commission for the floor trading runs as high as 2.5 percent.

But online trading still lags far behind floor trading in China, said Wu.

Currently, China has 5.26 million investors who buy and sell shares through the Internet, accounting for only 7.5 percent of the country's 69.96 million stock investors.

In October, the value of online stock transactions reached 57.89 billion yuan (US$6.97 billion), an increase of 6.46 percent year on year, according to the securities regulator.

(Shanghai Daily November 28, 2003)