(Yicai) June 12 -- Chinese companies’ enthusiasm to go public abroad is increasing, with more filings so far this year than in the whole of last year as they turn to stock markets in other countries to meet their growing financing needs.

Some 76 Chinese firms had their applications for initial public offerings or secondary listings in other countries approved as of yesterday, more than last year’s 72, according to the latest data from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Of these, 33 plan to list in Hong Kong and 43 in the US.

Thirty-two firms on the mainland had gone public overseas this year as of yesterday, according to Wind statistics. Twenty-one of them listed in Hong Kong, raising CNY8.5 billion (USD1.1 billion), and 11 floated in the US, raising CNY3.6 billion (USD496 million). Most of them are in the information technology and consumer goods sectors.

This trend shows that the internationalization of Chinese companies has accelerated with more firms willing and able to expand their global footprint and seek bigger markets, Securities Daily reported today, citing Tian Lihui, dean of the Institute of Financial Development at Nankai University.

Offshore listings are becoming more popular as a growing number of Chinese companies turn to capital markets in other countries to meet their increased financing needs, said Li Xiao, deputy director of the Capital Market Supervision and Reform Research Center at the Central University of Finance and Economics. Chinese regulators are also becoming more open to overseas listings and have made it easier and safer in recent years for firms to go public abroad.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission is determined to promote the opening up of the capital market, and will work with all parties to improve overseas listing mechanisms, enhance issuance methods and implement new rules to test the international listing registration process, Vice Chairman Fang Xinghai said earlier this year.

Editor: Kim Taylor