43 Chinese companies listed on US bourses in 2018

BEIJING - The number of Chinese firms listed on the US bourses increased in 2018, as more companies mull going public driven by the country's fast economic development, Securities Daily reported Friday.

A total of 43 Chinese companies were newly listed in the US market last year, higher than the 24 firms in 2017 and 10 in 2016, according to data from Wind, a financial data provider.

Chinese A-shares' high threshold contributed to the overseas listings, said Cen Saiyin, vice-president of Cornerstone Capital.

If a company wants to be listed on the A-share market, it should meet certain requirements including profitability before approval, according to Ge Shoujing, a financial researcher.

The number of Initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets fell to a five-year low of 105 in 2018, compared with 436 in 2017, partly due to the China Securities Regulatory Commission's stricter review process, according to the PwC.

Though the IPO reviews have become stricter than before, continuous reforms have made it easier for companies to access financing on the capital market, according to Tong Chuanjiang, a Deloitte China representative in charge of A-share IPO business for northern China.

New listings on the A-share market are likely to get a boost from factors such as the government's decision to launch a science and technology innovation board in Shanghai and experiment with a registration system for listed companies, Tong said.