"Listing in HK continues to be top choice for mainland companies": HKEx spokesman

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index (HSI) turned on a new page in its 37-year history as it announced Friday to include China Construction Bank (CCB) as its first H-share constituent since Sept. 11.

A spokesman of Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited (HKEx) said in an interview with Xinhua on Saturday that the inclusion of a H-share (Hang Seng China Enterprises Index) constituent into the 34-strong HSI (or blue chips) will let HSI reflect more practical situation of the Hong Kong stock market.

By the end of July, a total of 351 Chinese mainland enterprises had listed in HKEx, with about 4.42 trillion HK dollars (569 billion U.S. dollars) of market capitalization, accounting for 44 percent of the stock market's total, according to the latest statistics of the HKEx.

In the first seven months of this year, the traded volume of the Chinese mainland enterprises in Hong Kong stock market accounted for more than 57 percent of the market's total.

The listing of more mainland companies in Hong Kong also broaden the contents of the Hong Kong stock market.

In the past, most stocks in the HKEx were property, finance and composite ventures. After the first H-share company listed in Hong Kong in 1993, HKEx has been witnessing the coming of more diversified stocks as oil, oil-refining, mining, steel making, airport, highway, pharmacy, and other emerging industries, said the spokesman.

He said the listing of more mainland enterprises offer investors more choices.

The spokesman believed that the listing of high-quality enterprises is the core competition capacity of the HKEx.

He said the rapid growth of the Chinese mainland economy has made China one of the major "engine" for driving world economic growth.

He said the rapid development of the mainland enterprises has provided high-quality, high-growth listing resources, and they become "hot cakes" appealing to world stock exchanges.

In attracting the Chinese mainland companies to list in the stock exchanges, Hong Kong no doubt has advantages, he said.

He said, the Hong Kong stock market has advantages in fund raising and circulation and can help the mainland enterprises to improve governance, all of which will lure mainland enterprises to list in Hong Kong.

The spokesman said, Bank of China listed in Hong Kong in June, 2006 and collected 87.4 billion HK dollars (11.2 billion U.S. dollars), becoming the largest global initial public offering in the past six years.

As for the high circulation of the Hong Kong stock market, the trade volume of the Hong Kong stock market in May exceeded 713.7 billion HK dollars (915 billion U.S. dollars), a record monthly figure for the Hong Kong stock market, he said.

To attract more mainland companies to list in Hong Kong, HKEx will continue to forge a closer tie with mainland departments concerned.

The spokesman said, the HKEx has been arranging symposiums and lectures for companies which prepare to list in Hong Kong, introducing Hong Kong's stock market.

In 2005, HKEx hosted 16 conferences and symposiums in the Chinese mainland and it will launch three training classes for practical supervision in the Chinese mainland.

Looking ahead, the spokesman said, the HKEx will improve transparency, quality and infrastructure of the Hong Kong stock market and launch more services and products at the requirement of the market, in a bid to attract more mainland venture to list in Hong Kong.

Source: Xinhua