The number of Shanghai-based companies that have gone public have doubled in the past decade, and they have raised CNY4.1 trillion (USD574.4 billion) from initial public offerings, refinancing and bond sales over this period.

Some 409 firms that have their head offices in Shanghai are listed, up from 202 in 2012, and their market valuation has tripled to CNY7.3 trillion (USD1 trillion), Yicai Global has learned. Seventy-one of these are on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-style Star Market with a market valuation of CNY1.4 trillion (USD196.8 million). No other Chinese city has as many firms listed on the board.

Over the past decade, these listed companies have raised CNY342.3 billion (USD48.2 billion) through IPOs, CNY682.8 billion through equity refinancing and CNY3.1 trillion through bond sales. They carried out 120 mergers and acquisitions amounting to CNY526.8 billion.

Shanghai’s financial institutions have also developed rapidly. Shanghai-based brokerages, public funds and futures operators manage more than CNY15 trillion (USD2.1 trillion) worth of assets, nine-and-a-half times what they did in 2012, Yicai Global learned. The city has been China’s biggest asset management hub for years.

Shanghai has continued to promote the opening up of its capital markets. Some 31 of its financial institutions are wholly foreign-owned or are joint ventures, accounting for half of China's total. Some 82 percent of China’s wholly foreign-owned private equity investment fund managers are based in Shanghai, at 31.

Shanghai’s financial institutions are also expanding overseas. Five securities firms, 10 public funds and six futures companies have set up subsidiaries in the US, Hong Kong and Singapore to conduct cross-border business. Shanghai has formed a two-way investment channel for Chinese and foreign investors.

Lingang New Area, part of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, was established three years ago as a pilot area for financial innovation and development. It is home to 13 listed companies, 11 securities companies, 14 futures operators, 347 private equity institutions and 15 law firms engaged in the financial sector.

Source:Yicai