China and Britain agreed on Monday to prioritise opening China's stock markets to foreign companies and to arrange for more Chinese firms to list on London exchanges.

No timetable has been set for opening China's stock markets but British officials said HSBC bank was at the forefront of negotiations. They emphasised an urgency to make it easier for Chinese firms to float in London within months.

Authorities in Shanghai, China's financial hub, said earlier on Monday they would allow overseas firms to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange at an appropriate time. ID:nSHA73545

"We have agreed actions to support British companies listing in China and Chinese companies listing in the UK," British finance minister Alistair Darling told reporters after meeting Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan in London.

There are about 70 Chinese firms listed on London's stock exchanges and Britain wants to raise that total to 100 by 2010.

"We'll consider opening the forex control when foreign companies are allowed to list and trade," Hu Xiaolian, head of China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange, told reporters.

"But we also have to consider the overall balance of foreign currency flows."

BOOSTING TRADE

Britain and China have a bilateral trade target of $60 billion by 2010 and Wang highlighted sectors such as aerospace, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, electronics and environmental protection as areas that were key to achieving that goal.

In a speech later, Wang said the greed of Wall Street and the City of London had led to the financial crisis.

"Are we reaching the bottom of the crisis yet? No one I have spoken to can confidently say so. This is because the credit markets have not restored their confidence," he said.

Hu, who is also a vice governor of the People's Bank of China, said there were still "elements of uncertainty" in the global economy.

"Although there are signs of recovery, it is yet to be concluded whether these are the results of governments' stimulus measures or the outcomes of a systematic recovery," she added.

"For China, it's a different story. Our banking system remains healthy," she said.

Darling said his talks with Wang showed the importance of the UK-China relationship.

The two pledged to push ahead with promises made at the London G20 crisis summit in April to do whatever is necessary to restore growth, to expand the International Monetary Fund's emergency funds and to overhaul the financial system.

"We urge the IMF and World Bank to expedite governance structure reform, work out an explicit timetable and roadmap," they said in a joint statement outlining their agreements.

Wang also held talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, focusing on world trade negotiations, climate change and G20 commitments.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2009(