China will still lead the global IPO market in 2011 in terms of the amount of capital raised and the number of new listings, said international accounting firm PwC.
The total number of new listings this year will reach 320 including 290 listings on the ChiNext and Shenzhen SME Board and 30 in Shanghai, with fund-raising exercises surpassing about 400 billion yuan.
Because of the potential lack of major IPOs this year, PwC expects that listing exercises may not raise funds as large as those last year.
The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges had a total of 349 IPOs in 2010, raising 478.3 billion yuan, up 155 percent from 2009.
The PwC report said small and medium-sized enterprises were active in this period, becoming the major driving force in the IPO market.
“While many large State-owned enterprises completed their IPOs in the past few years, the trend now will be listings by small and medium-sized firms,” said Charles Feng, PwC China Beijing Lead Partner.
The Shenzhen SME Board drew 204 IPOs in 2010, with funds raised hitting 202.7 billion yuan, up 378 percent from 2009. This highlights the importance of SMEs in the future of the capital market.
ChiNext also showed strong development, with 117 new listings and 95.4 billion yuan in raised funds. Shanghai also had 28 A-share IPOs, raising 180.2 billion yuan.