The Shanghai Stock Exchange has for the first time delisted a company for breaching rules on information disclosure. An investigation found that Zhuhai Boyuan Investment Co’s violation was “very grave,” the bourse said. The company forged bank’s acceptance bills to cover up CNY380 million in earnings its controlling shareholder had failed to pay. It also inflated assets, revenues and profits. The delisting highlights the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s zero tolerance of major violations. Hopefully the move will encourage listed companies to disclose information in accordance with rules and this could help better protect investor’s legitimate rights and interests and promote the stable and healthy development of the capital market, the stock exchange added. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) launched an investigation into the case in June 2014 and handed it to the police in March 2015. Boyuan received a delisting warning on March 31, 2015, and halted trading of its shares on May 25 the same year. The last company delisted by the Shanghai exchange was China Erzhong Group (Deyang) Heavy Industries in April 2015. The reason was years of losses. CSRC said in February that it punished 10 companies last year over information disclosure by fining them and confiscating funds, the Shanghai Daily reports.

Shares of Zhuhai Boyuan will return for pre-delisting trading for 30 days from March 29. The CSRC may force out more problematic listed companies in 2016. However, the CSRC dismissed reports that it had created a blacklist of 30 to 40 problematic listed companies, which it planned to delist. Spokesman Deng Ge said: “Stock exchanges are responsible for the delisting of listed companies.” He also said that plans for the introduction of a new strategic emerging industries board in Shanghai were excluded from the country’s 13th Five Year Plan (2016-20) earlier this month because they are still at the discussion stage.