BEIJING — More than 340 companies have been listed on China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges since the beginning of this year, said Yan Qingmin, vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, at a conference.

Nearly 180 of the newly listed companies were on the sci-tech innovation board and the reformed ChiNext board, China's NASDAQ-style board, said Yan at the 2020 Annual Conference of China Society for Finance and Banking held recently.

He called for better implementation of delisting and the protection of investors' interests.

Chinese stocks closed higher on Dec 1, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 1.77 percent to close at 3,451.94 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.9 percent higher at 13,930.38 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 865 billion yuan (about $131.2 billion), down from 950.7 billion yuan the previous trading day.