Just 1.96%, or 14, of the listed companies in China that announced interim results last week have announced dividends. At the same time last year, 3.4% companies had announced a dividends, and a full 60% had by the end of the year. Stock is the favourite form of dividends in China, since it is not taxed like cash dividends.
But one trader said that the real importance of dividends lay in the fact that they were one of the many instruments players use to manipulate the markets.
The CSRC, which held a securities 'summit' last week has been roundly criticized by market participants for depressing the market through its reform...
