The Shanghai stock market, famous for sending initial public offering shares skyrocketing on their first day of trading, set a subdued new landmark yesterday when China XD Electric became the first IPO in more than five years to fall on its first day of trading.

Shares in the mainland's biggest maker of electricity transmission and distribution equipment fell 1.4 per cent to Rmb7.79 ($1.14) in Shanghai from the IPO price of Rmb7.90. Shanghai's benchmark composite index rose 0.25 per cent on the day.

The fate of the company, which raised $1.5bn with its offering, underlines the fact that IPOs in China may no longer safely be viewed as licences to print money: several recent large offerings have seen only single-digit percentage rises on their first trading days, while others have seen subsequent declines to below their offer price.