Margin trading in safe condition

Margin trading in China's stock market is normal and there is not much selling from major shareholders, the stock regulator said on Friday.

Indicators on the risks of margin trading, meaning investors use borrowed money to buy stocks, are "in a safe condition," and the outstanding volume on Thursday stood at 915 billion yuan (140 billion U.S dollars), said China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) spokesperson Zhang Xiaojun.

The ratio of capital that investors borrowed from brokerages stood at 225.5 percent, higher than the warning level of 150 percent, Zhang said.

The average daily amount of positions that margin investors are forced to close, however, was 495 million yuan in January, 47 percent lower that the daily average seen last year, Zhang added.

Major shareholders' selling in January was significantly lower, accounting for 16 percent of shares they sold in the same period last year.

The number of investors in the Chinese stock market topped the 100 million mark on Jan. 21, hitting 100.4 million on Thursday, Zhang said.

The daily average number of new was 67,500 in January, 40 percent higher than the same period last year.

Chinese stock market experienced its worst first-month performance in history, with the Shanghai Composite Index losing more than 20 percent in January.