INITIAL public offerings (IPOs) are coming thick and fast on the Chinese mainland, with Shanghai set to host the world’s two biggest listings this year. It’s a different story in Hong Kong, a global center for IPOs that’s seen only one offering so far this month. The mainland is also benefiting from the government’s desire to elevate the domestic markets, including the creation of a new Nasdaq-style STAR Market. Some of China’s biggest telecom operators are looking to Shanghai after being pushed out of the United States amid growing economic friction between the world’s two largest economies. China Telecom Corp., one of the nation’s largest telecom carriers, is a perfect example. After being delisted by the New York Stock Exchange in January, it aims to raise 47.1 billion yuan (US$7.3 billion) in Shanghai this week, setting a new high mark for 2021. Syngenta Group, the Swiss seed and fertilizer business owned by China National Chemical Corp., is also preparing a 65 billion yuan (US$10 billion) listing on Shanghai’s STAR Market. If the two offers meet expectations, funds raised through first-time share sales on the mainland this year will climb to about US$59 billion. Chinese domestic IPO proceeds are already at their highest level for this period in 11 years, while the number of deals, 320, is at record. Although deals have slowed in recent weeks in Hong Kong, overall the city hasn’t done too badly this year: there have been 65 IPOs, worth US$34.6 billion, a record for this period of the year. The Hong Kong stock exchange’s new chief executive officer recently played down China’s regulatory actions and said the city has a record pipeline of deals in the wings. The mainland stock market “has performed strongly in the last two years,” said Jian Shi Cortesi, investment director, China and Asia growth equities, at GAM Investments. “Regulators have also made IPO listing easier through the launch of the STAR Market in 2019.” The CSI 300 Index, the mainland’s equity benchmark, has rallied 35 percent in the past two years, compared with a 4 percent gain for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index. The mainland measure has also held up better than the Hong Kong gauge since the start of July. (SD-Agencies) | 