Share trading of China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Ltd was suspended last Thursday. This was due to news reports that the largest private shipbuilder in China had laid off 8,000 employees in the past few months.

The after effects of the global shipping industry's downturn coupled with the economic slowdown of China has affected the overall standing of the company. Thus as a measure to protect its interests in light of the news articles they sought clarified, they filed with the regulatory authorities the halt to the trading in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

No other details were made public and the shipbuilder did not provide any comment on the matter. Many industry analysts have said that the balance sheet of the company is under pressure. At the time of the stop order, Rongsheng shares dropped 10% to HK$1.06 per share.

According to several media outlets, many small to medium sized shipping companies went belly up during the market distress of 2008, the time when shipping orders nearly dropped to zero.