CHINA is preparing to launch depository receipts that would open the door to some of the country’s top tech firms issuing a form of shares on the mainland, Shanghai Securities News cited a senior regulatory official as saying Friday.

China depositary receipts (CDRs) will be launched “very soon,” Yan Qingmin, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, was quoted as saying. Depositary receipts are not technically shares, but allow investors to hold shares listed elsewhere.

The move could give domestic investors a route to Chinese tech firms listed outside the Chinese mainland like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Baidu Inc., JD.com Inc. and Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Sources have said that guidelines for CDRs, similar to American depositary receipts, were likely to be finalized in the second half of this year by China’s securities regulator.

China’s tech giants have to date preferred to list overseas for reasons including the prestige of an international listing, strict domestic rules on a profitable track record as well as the lengthy time required to win IPO approval.

The planned move is part of a broader effort by the government to bring back home its domestic tech giants, which have traditionally opted to list outside the mainland in New York or Hong Kong instead of their home market.

Hong Kong is also working on rules that would make it easier for firms like U.S.-listed Alibaba and others to take up a secondary listing in the city.

Alibaba, China’s top e-commerce firm valued at more than US$500 billion, has said publicly for a number of years that it would consider a listing in China if regulations allowed.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter, that Alibaba was working on a plan for a secondary listing in China, which could happen as soon as this summer.

“After 2005, when we listed in America, we immediately communicated with the China Securities Regulatory Commission,” said Baidu CEO Robin Li recently. “We’ve always had a dream to be listed back in China.”

Search firm Sogou Inc., which only recently listed in the United States, operates mainly in China and could thus benefit from a local listing, CEO Wang Xiaochuan said. “We strongly hope to return to the A-share market, and we hope the policies will change,” he said. (SD-Agencies)