Qualified foreign firms to issue shares

    CHINA will continue to push forward with the two-way opening of domestic capital markets, the central bank said in its 2015 annual report issued Tuesday.

    China will allow qualified foreign firms to issue stocks on the mainland, the People’s Bank of China said, adding that it would consider allowing foreign firms to issue Chinese depository receipts. Depository receipts are a mechanism for foreign firms to issue shares on a local stock exchange.

    14 banks selected as yuan-won market makers

    CHINA has selected 14 banks, including five South Korean banks, as market makers for the direct yuan-won market planned to open in Shanghai this month, South Korea’s finance ministry said Tuesday.

    The five South Korean banks are Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, KEB Hana Bank’s China unit and Korea Development Bank’s office in Shanghai, a statement from the ministry said. Other banks listed among the 14 were Citi, HSBC and Standard Chartered. The remaining six banks are Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Citic Bank.

    Shanghai Jinqiao denies Tesla report

    A SHANGHAI-LISTED real estate company Tuesday denied a report its parent had signed a US$9 billion deal with U.S. electric carmaker Tesla for a production plant in China, after its share price surged.

    Trading in shares of Shanghai Jinqiao Export Processing Zone Development was suspended Tuesday afternoon after they rose by the daily limit of 10 percent in the morning. The firm is the listed arm of Jinqiao Group, a State-owned enterprise developing an area that is part of Shanghai’s free trade zone. The surge followed a Bloomberg News report that the group would team up with Tesla to build electric cars in Shanghai.

    CITIC Resources to partner with Itochu

    CHINESE oilfield operator CITIC Resources Holdings Ltd. will join with Japan’s Itochu Corp. to invest in oil and gas projects.

    The move deepens the relationship between Itochu and CITIC Resources’ parent company CITIC Ltd., part of China’s oldest and biggest conglomerate. Itochu and Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group said last year they will jointly invest US$10 billion in CITIC Ltd.