Nasdaq Chief Executive Bob Greifeld (C) rings the opening bell of the exchange as representatives from Chinese companies listed on the Nasdaq celebrate during the Nasdaq remote market open ceremony in Beijing April 3, 2007. [Reuters]

BEIJING: Foreign stock exchanges including NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq Stock Market have announced plans to open offices in the Chinese mainland for the first time, amid efforts to woo Chinese companies to their markets.

NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq, London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borse are all preparing to set up representative offices in the Chinese mainland when regulations that take effect July 1 allow them to do so, the executives of the exchanges said at a private equity conference in Beijing on Saturday.

"Setting up shop locally will allow us to conduct many more promotional activities on the ground, and to be in closer touch with Chinese companies," Rainer Reiss, a managing director at Deutsche Borse in Frankfurt, said during an interview.

Foreign exchanges are looking to win a share of lucrative stock sales by Chinese companies. Domestic initial public offerings will probably amount to $25 billion to $30 billion in 2007, more than the $20 billion to $25 billion expected for Hong Kong, according to Jing Ulrich, chairman of China equities at JPMorgan in Hong Kong.

The country's benchmark CSI 300 index has surged 95 percent this year as Chinese companies raise money at home. Ping An (Insurance) Group raised $5 billion this year in the world's biggest stock sale by an insurer.

Overseas stock exchanges "aren't the holy grail for 100 percent of Chinese firms," Reiss said. "But an overseas listing is helpful for companies looking for strategic acquisitions and brand recognition abroad."

Selling shares on NYSE Euronext would allow Chinese companies to make acquisitions overseas with their New York-listed stock, said Yang Ge, the exchange's Asia-Pacific director.

China's securities regulator announced last week the rules allowing foreign exchanges to set up representative offices in the country. They are not allowed to participate in "operational activities," though they may provide liaison, promotional and research services, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange said last week that it planned to establish its first office in Beijing to encourage Chinese companies to list in Japan.

Plans to set up offices in China were also confirmed by Jane Zhu, Asia-Pacific head of the London Stock Exchange; and Xu Guangxun, Nasdaq's China representative, at the conference.

Nasdaq, the world's largest all-electronic exchange, said in April that it would introduce an index tracking Chinese companies traded in the United States as part of an effort to lure more international listings.

The plans come amid a wave of consolidation among stock exchanges.

In the latest move, Nasdaq last week agreed to buy OMX of Sweden for 25.1 billion Swedish kronor, or $3.7 billion, pushing into Europe after two failed attempts to acquire LSE.

OMX gives Nasdaq a foothold across the Atlantic to compete with NYSE, which has acquired Euronext.

Nasdaq abandoned a yearlong battle in February to buy the London market and settled on OMX to add stock and derivatives trading in Europe and enter the market for software to run securities exchanges. The push also comes as financial centers like New York lose initial public offerings to places like London and Hong Kong.