SHANGHAI, April 24 – The central government lowered the stamp duty on stocks from 0.3 percent to 0.1 percent in an effort to stabilize the market. China also introduced two new rules to tighten securities management in a move to restore investor confidence in the beleaguered stock market. Boosted by the good news, the Shanghai Composite Index and Shenzhen stock index made a greatest hike that day. Have a look.

　　China tripled the stamp duty on trading in May 2007 from 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent in an effort to slow the market and prevent it from overheating. However, with the market now in what appears to be a state of free fall, the government has had to revoke their increase to its former stamp duty of 0.1 percent.

　　Boosted by the lowering of the stamp duty, the stock indexes of Shanghai and Shenzhen open markedly higher last Thursday, by a rise of 261.54 points. After a short adjustment, the indexes kept rising, closing to the rising limit of 10%. The shanghai stock exchange closed at about 3600, a rise of 304 points over the day before. The turnovers of the two stock markets totaled RMB 270 billion yuan, which was a record-high amount since late last year. Analysts say the measures aiming to boost the stock market, though not sound yet, are signs that the authorities have acknowledged the extreme plunge of the stock market that has been going on for six month. The future market performance will depend on the follow-up measures of the authorities.