INTERVIEW-Nasdaq eyes China as its next big growth market
Fri Sep 9, 2005
By Scott Hillis
BEIJING, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. expects to maintain its reputation as the place for fast-growing, high-flying companies with a steady stream of Chinese offerings, a senior executive said on Friday.
Having established its name with technology superstars like Microsoft and Intel, the U.S. board has seen China provide it with fresh sparkle, such as when Web search firm Baidu quadrupled after its August stock debut.
"It's our fastest growing international market. It's really now about building up the business," Charlotte Crosswell, president of Nasdaq International, told Reuters in an interview.
"We've got a good pipeline, and it stretches out to 2007," Crosswell said of potential stock offerings from China.
Nasdaq has so far attracted a total of 22 Chinese listings, with 16 of those coming during the past 18 months. China is its second biggest international market after Israel, which boasts nearly 70 listings.
Crosswell visited the Chinese financial centres of Shanghai and Shenzhen this week to meet potential customers and pitch Nasdaq as an ideal partner for raising both cash and awareness among global investors.
"China is known for being a growth economy at the moment, and that fits with Nasdaq's reputation," Crosswell said.
Nasdaq's biggest competitor is the New York Stock Exchange, which has drawn blue-chip Chinese firms such as energy giant PetroChina and China Life, the country's biggest life insurance underwriter.
Nasdaq's China client list echoes the tech-heavy lineup from the dot-com era, featuring names like online gaming company Shanda, Internet media firm Sina.com, and online travel firm eLong.
But Crosswell said she wants to draw Chinese manufacturing, industrial and telecommunications firms.
Nasdaq is also playing up advantages such as the ease of trading on its platform, and lower listing costs and annual fees.
Challenges include telling Chinese executives why they should brave the thicket of regulatory compliance demanded by the United States in the wake of accounting scandals like Enron.
"The advantages that come out of complying with that are that it says a lot about a Chinese company that is able to comply with the highest standards in the world," Crosswell said.
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