Plan for foreign firms' listings gathers steam

With the goal of building Shanghai into a world-class financial hub, the central government is showing renewed interest in inviting foreign-funded firms to be listed in the country.

Deputy commerce minister Chen Jian said yesterday that his ministry will continue to work with other Cabinet departments on policies regarding domestic IPOs of foreign firms to "actively guide high-quality foreign firms to go public in China".

The government said as early as November 2001 that it might allow foreign companies to list on the bourse in Shanghai, and analysts said there was a possible acceleration of the process recently.