China plans new listed shares for domestic companies

Amid a raft of reforms aimed at improving the competitiveness of its domestic stock market, China will launch a new breed of locally listed shares for Chinese companies already listed overseas, the Financial Times reported. Under the plan, about US$270 billion of largely state-held stock will be publicly traded for the first time on a G-share index, (G stands for "gaige", or "reform".) Government officials concede that Shanghai has lost financial advantage to Hong Kong in recent months and suggested the Shanghai Stock Exchange could launch the index as early as this week. In a move that could marginalize under-performing companies on the mainland stock market, China is also drawing up an index for listed companies that have participated in a government scheme to reform their shareholder structures. More than half of China's 1000-plus publicly-traded companies have drawn up preliminary stock conversion plans.