China’s securities regulator had one of its busiest days on Friday as a record nine companies applied to go public, beating the previous of high of eight.
 

In fact, since early this year, the issuance department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has been inundated with enterprises seeking to go public.
 

By May 10, as many as 677 companies had lined up for an IPO, which would take the A-share market up to two and a half years to digest given the present 80 per cent pass rate.
 

Meanwhile, the efficiency of the CSRC correspondingly has set a new record.
 

"Recently the IPO reviews were of a much shorter duration, only 1 or 2 months, and the whole process took less than half a year from applying to getting listed," investment baking sources told China Daily.
 

Short-term liquditiy pressures originating from the rush to go public have created a tension for investors, who are concerned about the impact on the whole market.
 

Still, it’s worth mentioning that the "three highs" (high issue price, high P/E ratio and high funds raised) phenomenon of new stocks has been tamed.
 

The scale of funds raised has shrunk by more than 60 percent compared with the same period last year, while the average issue price and P/E ratio have dropped nearly 40 percent and 50 percent, respectively.