(Yicai Global) Aug. 5 -- Some 21 Chinese securities firms have got the regulatory nod to shutter 70 branches since this year's start.

This figure is more than double that throughout all of last year, Securities Times reported yesterday.

A total of 21 brokerages formally wound up 32 branches last year.

Guangzhou Securities has got the go-ahead to scrap or permission has been pending for 30 branches since the beginning of this year as the company is in the process of merger and acquisition. Another 20 brokerages have closed 40 branches, with Datong Securities nixing five subdivisions and Changjiang Securities also torching five local offices.

Securities firms generally set up new arms or shut them in three situations, a brokerage executive said. The first scenario is re-positioning irrationally-positioned arms in the course of merger and acquisition. The second is that issues exist in the network positioning, where both profitability and personnel call for readjustment after they have proven unsuitable after several years. The third arises from securities firms' strategic readjustment schemes.

A total of 25 securities brokerages have been approved to set up 173 branches over the same period at a rate of about 24.7 per month in a clear drop from last year's monthly average of around 37.

Editor: Ben Armour