China's securities supervisor said on Friday that the heavy slump on the country's equities market was caused by a combination of factors, both domestic and foreign.

These included a need for internal correction, increasing uncertainties on the global markets and frequent natural disasters, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) spokesman said at a press conference.

The unsound mechanism and structure of the country's equities market worsened the situation and widened the range of the correction, he said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.56 percent to 2,450.61 points on Friday, closing out the week slightly higher after five days of losses. The key index has tumbled nearly 60 percent from its peak in October.

However, the trend of a steady and healthy performance would remain unchanged, he said, as the country's economy maintained steady and fast growth.

CSRC would study the emerging problems, promote the improvement of basic systems and optimize the structure of fund raising, he said.

CSRC would also adjust new share supply in line with market demand, enhancing the market mechanism in regulation.

The commission has slowed new share issues this year in an effort to brake the steep index declines as any mention of new share offering would cause a sharp plunge in the index.

From January to July, CSRC only approved the new offering (at least 100 million shares) of four companies, which raised a combined 64.32 billion yuan (US$9.38 billion). Both the frequency and amount decreased, by 64 percent and 49 percent respectively, compared with the same 2007 period.

The commission would join with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to set up a real-time monitoring system to supervise transfer of the state-owned shares.

(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2008)