China to revive slumbering IPO market

In the past few weeks China’s regulator has posted a series of draft initial public offering (IPO) prospectuses, and there are now 46 issuers ready to go to market – the local media reckons they could raise 22.6 billion yuan (€2.6bn) from investors.

The draft prospectuses were published on the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), a sign the government is seeking to revive the slumbering market for IPOs

In January and February there was a flurry of IPOs after China allowed initial public offerings on the country's two bourses to resume after a hiatus of 14 months. Around 50 already approved companies were allowed to list on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges.

Investors had been worried that China had effectively frozen IPOs after no new companies were granted permission to seek a listing for two months. The CSRC told investors China had not closed its window for IPO applications.

Among the companies seeking a listing are the Hefei-based seed company Hua’an and the film companies Shanghai Film Corporation and Wanda Cinemas.

Some analysts predict that the mainland Chinese IPO market could hit 250 billion yuan (€28.9bn) in 2014. There are still 600 companies waiting for permission to list.

The official China Securities Journal said last week that 23.9 billion yuan (€2.8bn) worth of capital exited the domestic stock market on Monday as some Chinese investors became concerned that new IPOs would divert funds from existing shares.