The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ) said yesterday it will
consider listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange when local market
conditions have developed.
"Once China allows foreign companies to list on its exchange,
the NASDAQ will consider trading its shares in Shanghai," Xu
Guangxun, the NASDAQ's chief representative in China, told a news
conference in Beijing.
China's growing capital market and flush liquidity situation is
pushing greater demand for shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Shang Fulin, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory
Commission (CSRC), said at a Shenzhen conference held on Sunday
that the securities regulator wants to attract companies to sell
yuan-denominated shares, including mainland firms listed in Hong
Kong and other offshore companies, according to a Xinhua News
Agency report.
It also said that the Shanghai exchange is studying the
feasibility of attracting major foreign companies to list on the
domestic market.
The rising domestic stock market is heightening competition from
foreign exchanges seeking listing resources in China.
Xu said the NASDAQ wants more Chinese firms to list with it,
despite a new merger and acquisition rule that could pose
difficulties for offshore listings.
The No 2 US bourse yesterday held a ceremony to mark the opening
of its representative office in Beijing. Nineteen Chinese companies
have joined the NASDAQ this year, compared with nine in 2006, and
at least one more is expected in 2007, Xu said.
The NASDAQ currently trades 52 mainland stocks with a combined
market capitalization of $57 billion.
Its rival, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), currently trades
38 mainland companies with a combined capitalization of $1.1
trillion. NYSE Euronext, parent of the NYSE, said yesterday it
would open its Beijing office on December 11, the eve of the next
round of China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue.
Four foreign exchanges including the NYSE, NASDAQ, Tokyo Stock
Exchange, and Singapore Exchange have been allowed to open offices
in China since China and the US reached an agreement in their first
round of strategic economic dialogue last year.
(China Daily December 4, 2007)
