Shanghai: Ten Chinese news websites are vying to get listed on the domestic A-share market in Shanghai this year, but this particular piece of news attracted much derision from analysts.
The initial public offerings, which include state broadcaster China Central Television, Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily, are being pushed by the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
The move sparked anger because, as analysts pointed out, the companies were not profit-driven and the bourse would be flooded with "second class" scrips.
Quality issues apart, this is a year of IPO overdose in the Greater China region.
Chinese companies have already raised $23.5 billion (Dh86 billion) this year, about $4 billion less than the total for last year.
Raising money
For the rest of the year, Chinese companies, as varied as global education firms to nuclear power plant operators, are gearing up to raise funds from Singapore to New York.
The record-setting IPO story of the year, undoubtedly, is the Agricultural Bank of China which is expected to mop up $30 billion in simultaneous share floats in Hong Kong and Shanghai by July.
All Chinese banks are scrambling to gather capital while investor appetite lasts.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's biggest bank by market capitalisation, said last month it would sell up to 25 billion yuan in convertible bonds and seek additional capital through its Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
However, it is likely to replace this by offering rights issues in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
China Everbright Bank, a mid-sized lender that has been working on an initial public offering, could also list in Shanghai ahead of Agricultural Bank of China, by the end of June.
State-owned
Among other IPOs in the offing are China Railway Materials Commercial Corp, a state-owned infrastructure developer and steel trader, which is angling for 10 billion yuan.
Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport is also planning to pursue an IPO, while construction machinery maker Sany Heavy Industry announced it would float H-shares in Hong Kong.
Chinese companies sailing abroad with their funds bowl now include education company Global Education and Technology Group which is planning a $100 million IPO on the Nasdaq by the end of the year.
The jitters, however, are not too far behind.
The Shanghai Composite flirted with a bear market, falling as low as 2,647.57 last week.
The Index has been sliding since the beginning of the year with the government raising the reserve requirement for banks three times.
It has also introduced measures to dampen property prices.
IPOs around the world and in China are being cancelled, fuelled by the debt crisis in Europe and property tightening measures from Beijing.
Last week, Chinese iron ore producer China Tian Yuan Mining Ltd postponed its $450 million Hong Kong IPO.
This came only a day after Swire Pacific called off its planned $2.7 billion property share offer, also in Hong Kong, due to the global market turmoil.
Limp market conditions dampened the HK debut of French skincare products retailer L'Occitane International.
In Singapore, China's New Century Shipbuilding Ltd cancelled a $483 million IPO that would have been this year's biggest in the island state.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission may itself add to the IPO burden as it races ahead with the listing process for red-chip and foreign companies in Shanghai.
The international board is likely to make its debut within this year with companies like HSBC, Coca-Cola, General Electric and Wal-Mart joining the bandwagon.
Overseas companies can list on the new board through IPOs or depositary receipts traded on Chinese stock exchanges.
This is likely to open another floodgate of shares.
Meanwhile, the CSRC is also working on reforming the rules on new share issues.
It is attempting to make the IPO pricing system in China more market driven and share allocations more favorable to individual investors.
The columnist is a writer based in China.
