China's stock investors surge amid market rally in March

BEIJING - The number of new stock investors in China's Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses more than doubled in March as the country's stock market gained momentum.

Around 2.02 million investors were added last month, the largest monthly increase since April 2017 and up 103 percent from that in February, according to figures from the China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited.

That brought the total number of stock investors to 151 million, the first time it exceeded 150 million.

The investor enthusiasm came amid a rally in China's stock market since the beginning of the year, with a sharp rebound in daily trading volume and an upsurge in brokers' commission fees.

In March, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose by more than 5 percent.