In the Storm of Regulatory Measures, Hong Kong’s Capital Market is Witnessing Fundamental Changes
In the first half of this year, IPOs in Hong Kong raised record high funds. As a result, the Hong Kong capital market has recently become a major focus among global markets. In the context of strengthened supervision from the central government, some companies from the Chinese mainland that were planning to go to the United States for an IPO, may move to Hong Kong to go public. According to media reports, Lalamove a famous freight platform company in China, is considering moving from the United States to Hong Kong for listing.
In the same time, a new round of regulatory storms on online platform companies are gathering strength in China. In the previous days, regulators initiated cyber security reviews of several online platform companies. After a series of strong measures were enforced, many companies recently cancelled previous plans to go public in the United States. Experts and industry insiders interviewed by reporters from Caijing believe that the above-mentioned regulatory measures may, to a certain extent, prompt some companies to adjust their listing locations and transfer to Hong Kong instead. Affected by many factors, the Hong Kong capital market in 2021 is facing new changes since reforms in 2018.
The Booming STAR Market Receives More Favorable Policies
On the second anniversary of its launch, the STAR Market ushered in a package of favorable policies. The timely introduction of these policies will undoubtedly promote the long-term development of the STAR Market. Since its launch, the STAR Market has achieved remarkable results. But as an emerging sector, it still needs to improve and move forward in the future.
At the beginning of its establishment, the STAR Market has always emphasized on providing funds for scientific innovation. With the support and encouragement of this market, batches of companies focusing on technological innovation have successively listed on the STAR Market, forming a corporate structure in which “big and strong” and “small and good” coexist.
At the same time, its inclusiveness has also welcomed many types of enterprises. The biggest challenge of the STAR Market is whether or not there are sufficient candidates who will apply to be listed in the future.
China Opened A National Carbon Market to Curb Greenhouse Gas
After intensive preparations, the national carbon emissions trading market has finally launched. It was reported that on that very day, the opening price in the trading system was 48 yuan/ton.
Once China’s national carbon market is up and running, it will become the world’s largest carbon market.
It is believed that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will steadily formulate an implementation plan for quota allocations, clarifying that the power generation industry will become the first industry to be included in the national carbon market.
In the future, China’s carbon market will need to further strengthen its construction, improve the regulatory framework, establish a sound emission reporting system, and improve the liquidity of transactions.
Catering Brands are Rushing to Go Public
With the listing of many renowned catering companies such as Haidilao Hot Pot, more and more catering companies are rushing to go public. This year, the financing cases of catering brands have continued to come one after another. The valuation of these new-style restaurants is quite impressive. Previously, a Lanzhou beef noodles restaurant called Ma Ji Yong was given a high valuation of 1 billion yuan by Sequoia Capital.
Another phenomenon has also attracted investors’ attention. In the past year or so, many chain restaurant brands have begun to prepare to go public. Some catering brands waiting to be listed have also opened stores at a significant speed in the past two years. An industry veteran believes that the catering industry has a huge market, and with the development of electronic payment and cold chain logistics, the infrastructure conditions for catering industrialization have begun to mature. This will potentially usher in the best development opportunity in history.
