First Shanghai stock set to be delisted in 7 years plunges

[SHANGHAI] CSC Nanjing Tanker Corp, the first stock set to be delisted from Shanghai's exchange in seven years as China seeks to bolster its markets, plunged as it began its final 30 days of trading.

Shares of the oil-shipping company, which has posted four consecutive annual losses, fell 9.8 per cent to 1.47 yuan at the close, compared with a 1.5 per cent decline for the Shanghai Composite Index. The stock, which had been suspended for a year until Monday, will move to an over-the-counter board for small and medium-size enterprises after 30 trading days, according to the company.

"The delisting is kind of a warning to investors to keep away from these loss-making companies that don't have restructuring prospects," said Wu Kan at Shanghai-based Dragon Life Insurance Co. "An improvement in the delisting rules may mean the start of expulsions of lots of unqualified companies."