A total of 171 companies have seen their IPO hopes dashed by China's securities watchdog, triggering doubts about the credibility of IPO agencies, including accounting firms, Securities Daily reported on Friday.

Four Chinese accounting firms provided services to 77 of the companies. On top of this, 105 of the companies applying for IPO evaluations were on China's growth enterprise board.

China Securities Regulatory Commission has been meticulously going through filings into companies applying for an IPO. About 166 companies had actually withdrawn their applications by early April.

Last Friday, the commission even singled out a major financial services company, Shenzhen-based Ping An Securities.

The company was fined 76.65 million yuan ($12.5 million) for sponsoring the initial public offering in 2011 of Wanfu Biotechnology (Hunan) Agricultural Development, a company that has been exposed for having hugely exaggerated its business results.