China's exchanges topped the global list in terms of funds raised in the first half of this year, boosted by the recent bullish performance, favorable regulation and increased competitiveness, according to a mid-year global IPO market report released by Ernst & Young on Thursday.
From the beginning of this year to June 16, the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges ranked first and second by number of IPO deals, followed by NASDAQ and the Hong Kong bourse, the report showed.
In the period, the Shanghai Stock Exchange topped all bourses with $16.7 billion raised, followed by Hong Kong's $16.1 billion and New York Stock Exchange's $12.8 billion, according to the report.
With 241 IPOs and $40 billion funds raised during the period, China's exchanges accounted for 38 percent of global IPOs by number of deals and 39 percent by capital raised, the report said.
As of June 16, the A-share market witnessed the launch of 190 IPOs and raised $147 billion, a year-on-year increase of 265 percent and 316 percent respectively, the report noted.
The high volume of funds raised was supported by the deal size, with China's exchanges witnessing all of the three largest deals in the second quarter - Guotai Junan Securities Co, Huatai Securities Co and GF Securities Co.
EY attributed the surge to the speeding-up of IPO review and approval process, interest rates cut and a series of capital market stimulation policies such as the new registration-based system.
"The Chinese government is actively encouraging technology companies to go public on the A-share market, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange is on track to launch a new 'Board of Strategic Emerging Industries' to attract high-growth companies," Victor Chan, EY's Asia Pacific Capital Markets Partner, said during a media briefing on Thursday.
In comparison, only three Chinese firms got listed in the U.S. in the first half of 2015, a decline of 70 percent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, 17 U.S.-listed Chinese firms have announced their intention to go private in 2015, the report showed.
However, for these companies which want to get listed in the A-share market after delisting on the U.S. stock market, there are a plenty of costs and risks, Terence Ho, EY's Greater China Strategic Growth Markets Leader, said at the media briefing.
In addition to the cost of going private, these companies also have to deal with the differences in the US and Chinese accounting standards and have to wait for domestic IPO review, said Ho.
The outlook for the Chinese markets in the second half of 2015 remains extremely positive, according to the report.
