ZIJIN Mining Group Co nearly doubled in its trading debut yesterday, the best first-day performance on the Shanghai Stock Exchange this year.

It could have more than tripled at the close if the regulator had not intervened to tame rampant speculation.

China's leading gold miner rose 95.23 percent to 13.92 yuan (US$2.02), from its initial public offering price of 7.13 yuan.

Based on the close, the A shares of Fujian Province-based Zijin re-presented a premium of 103 percent over its Hong Kong-listed H shares which closed at HK$7.61 (98 US cents), a gap much larger than the average for dual-listed stocks.

Zijin's rise far exceeded analysts' forecasts of around 9.50 yuan in a Reuters analysts' poll for the stock's first day, suggesting strong investor appetites for gold companies with high bullion prices and wild speculation for new listings.

Zijin, which opened about 40 percent higher at 9.98 yuan and traded roughly around that level in morning session, started to surge in early afternoon before the stock exchange imposed a temporary suspension.

The stock had skyrocketed to 22 yuan, or 208.6 percent from its IPO price, before the exchange suspended its trading for 30 minutes from 2:26pm. The stock slumped after trade resumed and close at 13.92 yuan at 3:00pm.

The suspension was imposed after abnormal price movements were found, the city's exchange said in a statement on its Website. The huge volatility in Zijin's trading reflected challenges that the regulator faces to prevent irrational investment behavior from again stoking unwanted bubbles and possible trading misconduct, analysts said.

"This is rare for first-day trading," said Sun Peng, an analyst at Citic Securities. "Behind the roller coaster there must have been punters who were taking advantage of the enthusiasm on the broader market. And that's absolutely short-term trading."

On the Shanghai bourse, trading is stopped for 30 minutes in shares that are not subject to daily limits, such as those making a debut, if they rise by 100 percent or drop by 50 percent during a session.

Zijin, which owns the nation's largest gold mine, raised 10 billion yuan in the Shanghai IPO by selling 1.4 billion yuan-backed A shares to fund acquisitions and projects. The stock was 215 times oversubscribed.