Altogether 21 Chinese enterprises issued initial public offerings on overseas markets in the second quarter of the year, raising a total of US$11.5 billion, according to Zero2IPO Group, a Beijing-based venture capital and private equity industry service provider.

Companies in traditional industries and the service sector accounted for 61.9 percent of the newly listed stocks. There were eight companies in traditional industries and the five in the service sector, raising US$5.17 billion and US$4.68 billion respectively, and accounting for 85.7 percent of the total.

The remaining nine companies were listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and raised US$9.04 billion altogether, far more than those on other overseas markets. Five on the New York Stock Exchange and four on the main board of the Singapore Stock Exchange raised US$1.3 billion and US$904 million respectively. Two NASDAQ-listed companies raised US$219 million, and a Tokyo-listed firm raised only US$ 42 million.

First-day return on the new stocks in traditional industries averaged 42.4 percent, down from 82.9 percent in the first quarter. The figure for service, high technology, and biology technology sectors was 14.5-18.5 percent. Average first-day return for the information technology sector was 4.3 percent, the lowest of the newly listed stocks.

According to statistics, 121 companies acquired US$694 million of venture capitals in the second quarter. Of the total, 92 gained investment from foreign institutions, and domestic institutions invested in 29 firms.

Foreign investors focused on Beijing and Shanghai, with a total investment of US$456 million in 65 companies. They dominated in information technology, service, and bio-tech sectors.

Domestic venture investors were active in traditional and other high-tech industries. They invested US$32 million in six companies respectively in Shanghai, East China's Jiangsu Province, and Shenzhen, accounting for 41.7 percent of their total investment value.

(China Daily August 6, 2007)