Taiwan

Mainland shipbuilder debuts on Taiwan bourse

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-08 15:35

Yangzijiang Executive Chairman Ren Yuanlin (L) receives a gift from TWSE Chairman Chi during a listing ceremony in Taipei on Wednesday.[Photo/Agencies]

TAIPEI - The Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDRs) of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd. started trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange at 9 a.m.  Wednesday, making it the first Chinese mainland company to list on the island's bourse.

Related readings:  Mainland Yangzijiang to sell shares in Taiwan  Taiwan regional legislature passes ECFA

Yangzijiang started trading at NT$20.10 (around $0.63 ), 6.91 percent above its fixed TDR price of NT$18.80.

A ceremony was held for the TDR-listing of Yangzijiang, the mainland's No. 4 shipmaker, before the trading started.

Ren Yuanlin, Executive Chairman of the company said Taiwan is an important shipping market with many large ship owners. "The listing could raise name recognition levels and win more orders from the island."

According to Ren, Yangzijiang only has one client, Formosa Plastics Corporation, on the island. "There's still a large room for market expansion." "The move could also boost the company's image, as negotiators from the mainland and Taiwan have signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement to increase economic cooperation across the Taiwan Strait," he said.

Yangzijiang has set TDR's price at a slightly lower level, so as to gain popularity and enable Taiwan investors to share the benefits of the company's growth, Ren said. "It could also spur Yangzijiang's share prices in Singapore," he said.

Yangzijiang was listed in Singapore in April, 2007. Sheng Jiuyuan, deputy director of the Shanghai Pudong Institute for the Taiwan Economy, said the listing marked deepening cross-Strait cooperation in the capital market. "Yangzijiang's listing will inspire more mainland companies to follow suit," Sheng noted.