Exchange envisions more cross-border instruments

By Leo Zhang  |   2009-5-18  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE Shanghai Stock Exchange plans to step up efforts to build itself into an international bourse by launching more cross-border financial products and beefing up cooperation with overseas counterparts, its president said.

The stock exchange is also proceeding on setting up an international board and allowing foreign companies to issue shares in Shanghai, its president Zhang Yujun said during a panel discussion at the Lujiazui Forum.

"We hope the Shanghai Stock Exchange can let people buy financial products from all over the world through cross-border trading arrangements," Zhang said. "It will make Shanghai one of the global asset-pricing centers."

The central government has also allowed Shanghai to explore the introduction of exchange-traded funds to track indexes as early as this year.

"We will continue to develop ETFs based on overseas equity indexes. All the efforts are aimed at allowing investors to better allocate their assets," Zhang noted.

Zhang added that he met senior executives of overseas stock exchanges during the forum and they all agreed to boost communication with the Shanghai exchange to help it expand its global influence.

"Although we have solid hardware systems and our development is fast, we should learn from them on how to become a globalized stock exchange," Zhang said.