China's A-share market sees share buybacks boom

BEIJING - Listed firms on China's A-share market have conducted a surging number of share repurchases, a scheme that analysts said would boost market sentiment.

By Tuesday, 482 listed firms have repurchased their shares valued at nearly 24 billion yuan ($3.5 billion) in total via 655 operations, according to information service provider Wind.

The numbers represented sharp increases from 2017, when public companies on the A-share market conducted 565 share buyback operations, with shares worth 9.2 billion yuan repurchased.

China's A-share market has seen sharp corrections this year, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index losing about 20 percent compared with the beginning of the year.

The buyback scheme would support the value of stocks and boost overall market sentiment, according to Yang Delong, chief economist of First Seafront Fund.