Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    AN equity trading exchange established Tuesday by China’s top news agency will set up a branch in Shenzhen’s Qianhai economic zone to increase its international appeal, it was announced at a press conference in Hong Kong.

    Co-invested by Xinhua News Agency and Daqing Oil Field, the Xinhua Equity Exchange was set up Tuesday, with one headquarters in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and another in Daqing. The first service center of the exchange was established in Hong Kong.

    “We are going to expand to Shenzhen’s Qianhai as soon as possible,” Song Xiaoguang, chief account of the exchange, told reporters at the press conference. “We hope to attract worldwide attention by expanding to Hong Kong and Qianhai, the forefront of economic reform.”

    Designed to trade a wide range of products, including commodities, equities, insurance products and indexes, the exchange is part of a national project called Xinhua 08, which will build an authoritative platform for financial information release, Song said.

    Equity exchanges have mushroomed across China, but the Xinhua one has stronger national backing to ensure brighter development, according to Song.