BEIJING - China's stock watchdogs need to cut approval procedures and let market rules play a leading role amid the current stock market downturn, experts said Tuesday.

Stocks regulators should loosen their grips and put market rules back in place, Liu Jipeng, an economics professor with China University of Political Science, said at a forum on China's stock market hosted by news portal Sina and Huatai Securities in Beijing.

"China should build its stock market into a fair, efficient and transparent one," Liu said, adding that excessive approval procedures may hinder the development of the market.

Liu was echoed by Zhu Ping, vice general manager of GFfunds, who held that effective dividend and delisting systems will help shore up the sagging stock market seen in recent months.

Lin Yongfeng, a monitoring director of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, said the bourse has asked listed companies to make a clear dividend policy and pay a fixed amount of cash dividend or a fixed proportion to net profits as dividend each year.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has fallen 18.12 percent from its peak this year, making it one of the world's worst-performing stock markets in the past few months.