IPO applications come under wider scrutiny

Regulatory oversight to ensure credibility of applicants on parameters besides profitability

Five out of six companies' applications to go public were rejected early this week, according to a circular by China Securities Regulatory Commission, sparking discussions about whether the assessment committee is getting "stricter".

Analysts said that since there are no changes to assessment standards for initial public offering applications, it would be too early to say that the latest committee for IPO approval, which started operation Oct 9 at the CSRC, is "stricter" than its previous peers.