BEIJING - News about possible foreign companies listing on the A-shares market has met with fierce responses from Chinese investors and capital market watchers.

On June 1, eight State Council departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, jointly issued a set of guidelines on promoting new advantages in international cooperation and competition, which included allowing foreign companies to list in the A-shares market as an important part of financial internationalization.

The document urged the A-shares market to make technical preparations to embrace foreign companies and formulate relevant rules.

The news immediately became a subject of debate on major microblogging sites like Sina Weibo and QQ.com. While a few netizens defended the introduction of foreign companies, the majority cried out against the thought of opening an "international board".

"What do you want to do with the international board? Rescue the whole world? Save ourselves first, please!" wrote "Guan Hangjun" on Sina Weibo. Guan is identified as chairman of the board of Yindu Media Co Ltd in Wuhan, Hubei province.

"If the international board is launched, it will be a disaster for the Chinese capital market," wrote "Wangzhefengfan 117" on Sina Weibo.

Most economists and financial experts have also come out in opposition to foreign companies listing in the domestic market, largely because they feel that neither the market environment nor the A-shares operating system are ready for introducing foreign companies.

Xiang Weida, director of research with Great Wall Securities, said that from a financing perspective, supporting the financing of small enterprises is more urgent than the financing of foreign companies. It is not a good time for foreign companies to come, as the market is at an historical low.

Economist Huang Sheng agreed that now is not the right time for an international board. So far, reforms on relevant IPO rules and the market system have not been completed, and the arrival of foreign companies would make things more complicated. He also believes the market is too weak to bear the impact of an international board.

In the past few years, news about the international board has frequently stressed the A-shares market and has met with a market slump almost every time, prompting some netizens to dub it "the sword of Damocles" for Chinese investors.

After carefully studying the guidelines issued this month by the State Council, some netizens took comfort in the fact that the Securities Regulatory Commission was not among the eight departments to sign the document, which shows that the guidelines may not represent the ideas of the market watchdog.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday said there are no near-future plans for overseas companies to list in A-shares market.

Nevertheless, the A-shares markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen both dropped dramatically at the close of Monday trading, with the Shanghai Composite Index losing 2.73 percent, or 64.89 points, to 2308.55 points, and the Shenzhen Component Index shedding 2.67 percent, or 271.29 points, to 9874.52 points.

Weak American and European market performances could be behind the A-share slump seen Monday, but the news of the international board has definitely affected the buying mood of investors, as evidenced in the country's microblog communities.