Qatar and China yesterday explored opportunities, including the mutual listing of Qatari and Chinese exchange traded funds (ETFs) in both markets.
This, amidst other strategies, was discussed with a delegation representing the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and China Merchant Securities that visited the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE).
“QSE is keen on promoting co-operation with the Chinese and Asian stock exchanges and attracting institutional investors to invest in the promising Qatari capital market, especially in the wake of upgrading the Qatari market to an emerging market status, following the technical and regulatory developments of the QSE,” a spokesman for the local bourse said after the meeting.
The Chinese delegation discussed the prospects and opportunities for enhancing co-operation between the two sides in the areas of capital markets developments, he said.
The SZSE is one of the two state-owned stock exchanges in China and lists more than 2,000 companies. SZSE had 222 IPOs in 2017 and was the number-one exchange in the world as per number of IPOs. It serves as a multi-tiered capital market for innovative companies and entrepreneurship.
The delegation held a session of talks with Qatari bourse officials, during which both sides were briefed about strategies and discussed in detail several topics, “particularly the prospects of product and market infrastructure and the development of small and medium enterprises’ markets in both QSE and SZSE as well as the mutual listing of Qatari and Chinese ETFs in both markets”, the spokesman said.
Qatari officials gave a presentation on the local bourse and development strategy to become leading regional market that is capable of attracting investors from around the world.
Qatar Renminbi Center (QRC), the Middle East and North Africa region’s first RMB clearing centre, was opened here, following a memorandum of understanding signed in November 2014 between the representatives of the Qatar Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China.
The QRC acts as a hub that conducts and facilitates a wide variety of financial services denominated in RMB. It allows businesses in Qatar and the region to settle their transactions in RMB directly.