WHITE goods maker Qingdao Haier Co. is planning to be among the first Chinese companies to sell so-called D shares in Frankfurt, four people with direct knowledge of the process said.

A Haier listing would kick off the D share project — D is for Deutschland — on the infant China Europe International Exchange (CEINEX), which is based in Frankfurt.

The CEINEX was set up with the blessing of the Chinese and German governments in 2015 and is mostly owned by Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Deutsche Boerse.

The exchange has been working to enlist prominent Chinese companies for a splashy debut for the new market.

Haier said in a statement Friday that it was studying the issue but it has not made a decision on the project, nor has it hired any advisers.

The CEINEX declined to comment when contacted.

The establishment of D shares would mark the latest in a series of gradual moves by China to increase foreign engagement with its companies. D shares would join a long list of offshore Chinese forms of equity including H shares and red chips in Hong Kong, S chips in Singapore and N shares in New York.

This universe already makes up more than a quarter of the global emerging markets equities index produced by MSCI, which last year decided to include domestically listed Chinese shares, known as A shares, for the first time.

A circular for potential investors and issuers of D shares described the CEINEX’s goal as to attract “Chinese national champions” and the “best of the best.”

The German project has high-level backing: China’s Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were present in 2015 at the signing of the agreement between Deutsche Boerse and the Shanghai Stock Exchange that formed the CEINEX.

Haier, with 10.3 percent of the global market for white goods such as refrigerators in 2016, according to consultancy firm Euromonitor, has a large footprint in Europe and plans to expand in the region.

Qingdao Haier, its main Shanghai-listed unit, is China’s top household appliances maker and in 2016 acquired General Electric Co.’s appliance business for US$5.4 billion.

While the size of Haier’s share offering has not been finalized, it would likely reach about 1 billion euros, as both SSE and Deutsche Boerse are keen to land a “landmark” transaction, according to two of the sources. (SD-Agencies)