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103 Chinese firms listed in Singapore

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-05-26 15:36

A total of 103 Chinese companies are listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX), more than 14 percent of all companies listed in the country, according to a senior staff of the SGX.

Lawrence Wong, senior vice-president of the exchange, said the Chinese companies listed on the SGX have understood and accepted Singapore's capital market and used it as a platform for international finance. The Singapore market and investors are fond of Chinese companies and call them the "dragon chips".

Since 2001, these "dragon chips" have been actively traded, and the average turnover velocity (around 100 percent to 300 percent) is up to three times higher than for Singapore local stocks, he said during an interview in Beijing.

The main reason for this is that these stocks, condensed with China's rapid economic growth, bring investors good returns, and this also reflects Singaporean investors' great confidence in China's development, he added.

Wong said it hopes to help qualified Chinese firms gain access to the international market by going public on Singapore's stock market.

Singapore Exchange hopes to provide an efficient finance pipeline for Chinese companies wishing to enter international markets and to help them raise awareness of their brands by being listed on the stock exchange, said Wong.

"In recent years, we've made considerable achievements in this area," said Wong on the sidelines of the 9th Beijing International Hi-Tech Expo.

Wang said the number of companies from the Chinese mainland listed on the SGX has increased significantly since 2003.

In 2003, there were 23, accounting for 26 percent of the 58 newly listed companies that year, and the figures were 34 and 25 in the following two years, which made up 41 percent and 37 percent respectively, of the total initial public offerings for the year, he said.

Wong said Singapore enjoys sound economic and financial fundamentals, a favorable legal and investment environment, a strategic geological location, complete infrastructure and comparatively high living standards, which has attracted many world-famous financial institutions to open up businesses in the country.

To help newly listing or listed Chinese companies to have a better understanding of the regulations of listing in Singapore, SGX has begun to organize corporate governance training courses conducted in Mandarin in Singapore, Beijing and Shenzhen.