Stock market workstation to attract capital to Zhongguancun

Nasdaq's new workstation in Haidian district is likely to prove a real boon for companies in Zhongguancun, economists in Beijing said on Tuesday.

As one of the nation's most active and innovative areas, China's so-called "Silicon Valley" is predicted to attract more international capital once the electronic stock market gets running.

Zhongguancun "offers more opportunity to the international capital", which is why Nasdaq has chosen the location, said Zhu Wuxiang, a professor in finance at Tsinghua University's school of economics and management.

He suggested that the deal is also good news for the stock exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

"The United States-based stock market's interest will accelerate domestic stock markets rather than compete with them," he told METRO.

"Enterprises that originally couldn't get listed on domestic stock markets can increase their chances at home if they do well on the US stock market."

Related readings:  Nasdaq upbeat on China  Nasdaq parent wants more Chinese floats  Nasdaq may have best year in new listings from China  NASDAQ cheers the Year of the Rabbit

Haidian district government released a statement last Sunday announcing it had signed a strategic memorandum of cooperation with several international organizations, including Nasdaq and the Rockefeller Foundation Rose Rock Capital Partners.

According to the press release, Nasdaq, the world's largest stock market, will build its first Beijing workstation this year. The base will offer consultation and training services to enterprises in Haidian, Nelson Griggs, senior vice-president of Nasdaq, was quoted as saying by Beijing Morning Post after the memorandum signing ceremony.

The deal will help the district achieve its goal of having 200 companies listed on stock exchanges by 2012, said Yang Zhiqiang, deputy director of the Haidian government.

Haidian has the most listed enterprises anywhere in the capital. Official statistics show that, as of March 13, there were 183 floated on stock markets, accounting for 5 percent of all listed firms nationwide. About 33 are also listed overseas. Seventeen companies are already listed on Nasdaq, making up 10 percent of all Chinese enterprises on the board.

"As we've learned, there are plenty of high-tech companies looking for the opportunities to be listed on Nasdaq," said Wang Shengpeng, deputy director of finance services for Haidian.

Professor Zhu added that, due to the maturity of markets in the US, many Chinese enterprises choose to be listed on Nasdaq for easy financing, as well as the different demands on registered capital.