[THE INVESTOR] Chinese companies are rushing to the South Korean stock market to be listed, industry sources said on Oct. 6.

Three Chinese firms -- farm equipment parts maker Golden Century, Organic Tea Cosmetics Holdings Co. and plastics maker GRT -- are preparing to be listed on the secondary KOSDAQ market by year-end. Three Chinese companies have already listed on the minor bourse this year.

Analysts said Chinese companies are opting to be listed on the Seoul bourse due to cheaper costs and an easier listing process than other stock markets.

 

“It takes a relatively short period of time to get listed here and the cost for listing is also lower than in the United States,” an official of the bourse operator Korea Exchange said. “Chinese companies should wait several years to be listed on the Chinese or Hong Kong stock markets because of many applicants.”

In late January, China Crystal New Material Holdings, a synthetic mica manufacturer based in the Cayman Islands, was listed on KOSDAQ. Chinese auto parts manufacturer Rothwell was listed in late June and Chinese toymaker Heng Sheng Holding Group in mid-August.

If the three companies are given the nod for listing, it will mark the first time for six Chinese companies to become listed on the local bourse in a year.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)