Despite recent ruffles in the fund fabric of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, this market is on its way to rivaling the exchanges locally and internationally.
But Chinese companies themselves may want to take a broad look at where to list, and why.
Over the past year, Chinese enterprises that have successfully listed on overseas stock markets were mainly from the following five industries: IT, traditional industries, the service sector, hi-tech, and bio-pharmaceuticals. But the overseas listing of seven real estate companies has led many people to refer to 2006 as "The Year of Real Estate Enterprises Listing Overseas." Ernst & Young has predicted that overseas listings will come mainly from the fields of energy, resources, finance and capital, and industrial production (such as telecommunications equipment).
In terms of fund-raising ratios, the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was ranked first among all major funding markets worldwide in 2006, accounting for 15.5 percent of global funds; the London Stock Exchange ranked second, with 15 percent; the New York Stock Exchange ranked third, with 10.5 percent. The early 2007 tally was less clear. The January performance of new stocks in Hong Kong was average, with the exception of one Taiwan-based stock, Tai-I International Holdings Ltd., the third largest copper wire manufacturer in China, which raised total funds of HK$249 million.
After successfully executing the largest IPO in history, and reforming many regulations, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was recently honored with many international awards. Among these, Asian finance magazine The Asset awarded ICBC its highest annual accolades, including Best Deal, Best Equity Deal and Best IPO.
Hong Kong: first choice
In 2006, a total of 86 enterprises were listed overseas. The performance of the Hong Kong main board was strong enough to attract 39 mainland enterprises (compared to 37 in 2005) with total funds raised increasing to $41.284 billion from 2005's $19.013 billion. The Hong Kong Growth Enterprise Market realized total raised funds of $227 million.
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