The number of China's stock investors rose 0.52 percent from a month earlier last month as the rising stock markets prompted more new investors to buy shares.

China added 364,900 stocks investors in February, reaching a record 70.76 million investment accounts in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the stock market regulator. But it declined to specify the number of retail and institutional investors.

China's stock markets have gained more than 10 percent since the start of this year, enticing fledging investors to buy shares amid the low banking interest rate and the incipient signs of inflation picking-up.

China's inflation rose 2.1 percent last month, making the real interest rate negative for depositors, who earn only a 1.98 percent annual interest rate on bank accounts.

"They all want to share the benefit of the rapid growth of China's economy by exposing themselves to equity investments," said Lu Liang, analyst with China Securities Co Ltd.

"I am not sure of the proportion of individual and institutional investors among newcomers, but I am sure that both individual and institutional investors opened new accounts."

China's resilient economic growth would justify the upside on the equity markets by boosting the corporate profitability of the 1,200-plus listed companies, Lu added.

China's economy, which grew by 9.1 percent last year, is forecast to expand by a consensus 9.5 percent this year, according to Goldman Sachs and UBS AG.

The market rally attracted investors to trade more shares last month, causing a surge in the value of the stock transaction.

The combined daily trading value of the two exchanges averaged 35.65 billion yuan (US$4.30 billion) last month, more than tripling the figure for the year-earlier period, according to the securities regulatory body.

The value of the total shares traded through the two bourses last month more than quadrupled to 712.92 billion yuan from the corresponding period last year.

The stamp duty of 0.2 percent levied on stock transactions rose more than four-fold from a year earlier to 2.85 billion yuan last month.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.54 percent higher at 1745.54 Tuesday, the highest closing level since December 10, 2001.

The Shenzhen Sub-index rose 0.26 percent to 4061.16 yesterday.

(Shanghai Daily March 17, 2004)