Asia Pacific Exchange (APX) and its parent AIMS Financial Group (AIMS) have signed a co-operative agreement with Tianjin Municipal People's Government in China to open the way for Chinese enterprises to invest and list overseas.
Working with the governments and authorities in Australia and China, APX intends to provide a Western security exchange platform to allow Chinese enterprises to finance and execute offshore mergers and acquisitions, while also opening the way for "RMB internalisation" in Western capital markets.
Mr James Tong, Managing Director of APX said "This landmark agreement will further entrench APX's strong position in the China/Australia listed securities market and will provide many opportunities for APX as well as participants of both countries in the future."
Mr Greg Bundy, vice chairman of AIMS, said "Over the last 15 years, AIMS has positioned itself as a bridge in terms of investment and finance between Australia and China, building highly qualified, professional and experienced cross-cultural teams to achieve this goal".
Mr Bundy said "The strategic co-operative agreement between AIMS/APX and the Tianjin Government means AIMS/APX will be involved in the development of a government platform to provide overseas listing, investment and financing to Chinese enterprises."
The agreement will also allow the Tianjin Government to accelerate the pace of promoting Tianjin to become a major financial service and financial innovation centre in China.
About TianJin
Located in North China, Tianjin is a major manufacturing and research and development base, as well as a shipping and logistics centre. The Binhai New Area in Tianjin posted GDP growth of 23% in 2008.
Tianjin's GDP is expected to exceed 200 billion yuan by 2011. With a population of more than 10 million, it is one of the four municipalities directly under the central government. In 2006, the government began to turn Binhai New Area into its third economic engine following Shenzhen and Shanghai's Pudong, the economic powerhouses of the country's southern and eastern coastal areas. The area, situated 120 km southeast of Beijing and covering 2,270 sq km, generated 310 billion yuan in GDP in 2008.