Higher levels of transparency and public scrutiny have been introduced to the powerful listing committee of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), according to a new regulation published yesterday.

Greater public scrutiny of the committee, which approves stock issues and listing applications, will help improve the overall quality of listed companies, the CSRC said.

Under the regulation which replaces the version in force since 1999, the approval committee is required to publicize key information including the date of its meetings, committee members in attendance, the applicants as well as the committee's decisions.

Committee members are also required to reveal how they vote.

"The essence of the change is to improve transparency of the committee and enhance accountability of committee members," a CSRC spokesman said.

The number of members is reduced drastically to 25 from 80, but some will work full-time to improve efficiency. Members previously worked on a part-time basis.

Full-time members will be chosen among senior partners at accounting company, law firms, or asset-appraisal institutions.

An application will be approved with five votes out of at least seven attending members, comparing to six votes out of nine previously.

The committee will review an application once, instead of twice previously, to avoid situations where the two reviews yield sharply different opinions.

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