BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- China's securities watchdog has begun soliciting public opinion on revised delisting rules to promote healthy development of the capital market and prevent financial risks.

The revised delisting rules will strengthen the responsibilities of stock exchanges in establishing and implementing delisting rules, said the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

Delisting rules will be stricter in the revised version to improve the quality of listed companies and protect investor interests, the CSRC said.

Besides improving delisting rules, China will step up efforts in delisting "zombie companies" and companies with long-term losses and severely poor financial status, according to the CSRC.

China released a guideline to tighten delisting rules in 2014 to remove unqualified companies from the equity market.

Companies will be removed from the stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen for major legal violations, according to the guideline.

Share trading of a company will be suspended after it is caught cheating in share issuance or information disclosure by the CSRC.

Improving delisting rules was the latest move following toughened market oversight and severe punishment for illegal trading in the past year.

The CSRC has introduced rigorous approval procedures for IPOs since a new review committee came into office in October, rejecting or suspending more than half of IPO applications.

Aside from tightened control of public listings, the CSRC also put in place severe punishments to deter market violations and make the capital market function properly.

The CSRC issued a record high of 224 administrative penalties in 2017 with the combined total of the fines rising 74.74 percent, to a historic high of 7.48 billion yuan (1.14 billion U.S. dollars).

The fines were handed out for various violations, including information disclosure problems, market manipulation, and insider trading.

Zhang Shenfeng, assistant chairperson of the CSRC, said in January that China would continue to strengthen oversight in the securities market in the new year to keep it fair, open, and impartial.