The securities regulator announced yesterday that it will allow overseas stock exchanges to establish representative offices in the country from July 1 - a move expected to facilitate the listing of more Chinese companies overseas.

The overseas bourses will be allowed to promote their organizations and conduct research through the offices, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said.

"It represents a milestone for overseas stock exchanges in attracting local companies for listing, " said Cheng Weiqing, a senior analyst with CITIC Securities.

By setting up representative offices, overseas bourses will have much more access to information and resources related to local companies. It will also help Chinese firms better understand overseas exchanges, Cheng said.

The move is seen as fulfilling one of China's commitments in the first round of the Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue held in December, when Beijing promised to allow overseas exchanges to set up offices in the country soon.

Both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ) have been preparing for the establishment of their Beijing offices since then.

Noreen Culhane, executive vice-president of the NYSE Group, said that the bourse discussed listing with over 20 Chinese companies during her visit to Beijing last month. Three Chinese companies listed on its main board in the first quarter.

Rival NASDAQ attracted six Chinese companies in the first quarter; and the tech-heavy bourse recently launched a NASDAQ China Index to track the performance of Chinese companies listed in the US.

China's booming economy and the increase in initial public offerings (IPOs) have created heated competition among overseas exchanges to lure the country's companies. NYSE, NASDAQ, London, Singapore, Toronto, Tokyo and other giant stock exchanges are among the competitors.

Last year, 86 Chinese firms raised $44 billion from overseas IPOs, accounting for 19 percent of the global total that year, according to Xinhua News Agency. The previous year, 81 Chinese firms raised $20.5 billion from overseas IPOs.

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