SHANGHAI, March 2: China revoked the licences of five accounting firms for poor practices, as part of Beijing’s efforts to clean up its stock markets, state media said on Saturday.

China’s Finance Ministry and the China Securities Regulatory Commission jointly gave permission allowing the China Registry of Accounting Association to revoke the five licences, the financial press said.

The five firms are: Zhongtianqin, Hualun, Shenzhen Huapeng, Shenzhen Tongren, Zhonglianxin, the papers said.

Shenzhen Huapeng lost its license because it helped falsify documents for beleaguered Chinese camera maker Macat Optics, the official Shanghai Securities News said.

Authorities revoked the licences of Hualun and Shenzhen Tongren because they failed to follow the required guidelines and rules to hire an adequate number of accountants, it said.

The firm Zhongtianqin lost its license because of poor accounting practices and Zhonglianxin failed to provide required documents and information for government inspection, the newspaper said.

Two other accounting firms, Zhongshen and Tianyi, are also at risk of losing their licenses unless they revamp their operations to comply with China’s accounting standards. Zhongshen has been given three months to comply, Tianyi two months, the paper said.

Spokesmen for the ministries and the companies could not be reached for comment.

China launched a sweeping reform in its stock markets last year, with authorities unleashing a series of probes into corporate irregularities ranging from earnings falsification to price manipulation.

BEIJING: Chinese entrepreneurs have urged amendments to the constitution to give private property the same level of protection as state-owned property, state media said on Saturday.