after the listing, transaction volume is relatively low. Getting listed is only the first step; it also implies fundraising from the capital market. You would hope investor groups can be formed, analysts pay attention to your company, and future issues of additional shares can be achieved. All these will help the enterprise grow stronger. Therefore, if you are only interested in listing on an exchange with lower entry threshold, then you can only achieve going public and not growing the enterprise because of low transaction volume. I believe a lot of enterprises will discover that they will have to pay a higher price for listing on a less stringently monitored exchange. Without doubt, stock exchanges in the United States are under the strictest supervision.

Many Chinese companies listed on AMEX are biotech companies. Do you have special favor for certain sectors?

Enterprises listed on AMEX come from all fields. Generally speaking, we lean toward natural resources, energy, ore and mining. We do have a fair number of enterprises from the financial and biotech sectors. Instead of concentrating on a certain sector, AMEX welcomes small businesses and micro- chips from different industries.

A number of foreign stock exchanges have come to China in the past year to attract Chinese enterprises. Does AMEX have a specific promotion plan for China? Will you open an office in China in the near future?

We hope to find the correct way to do our promotion in China, but currently we don't have a good understanding of the Chinese market. Nevertheless, we may try exploring the Chinese market next year. AMEX hasn't established an office in China yet. I have been considering the benefits of a local office, and I'm not sure if we should set up an office or pay several senior-level visits. I don't know which way is more effective. Perhaps senior-level visits can be more effective than an office with some staff sitting there. I think the correct way of promoting is to visit China personally and talk to the relevant authorities. This is something I haven't had the chance to do; hopefully I can find the time and opportunity next year.

The Chinese company Bodisen Biotech Inc. was delisted by AMEX in May, and many U.S.-listed Chinese companies are also involved in litigation. Why do so many Chinese enterprises have problems? Does this have anything to do with their ignorance of the regulations of the SEC?

I think many companies can have legal problems one way or the other, not just Chinese companies. The reason they get into trouble may be due to the lack of planning and ignorance of the relevant regulations. They should consult with their lawyers more and have definitive plans in respect of enterprise announcements.

AMEX was once the second largest stock exchange in the United States, after the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The establishment of Nasdaq pushed it to the third place. Differing from NYSE and Nasdaq, AMEX focuses on SMEs. “In terms of financing, AMEX can provide a choice ranging from as low as $5 million to $100 million,” said Amy McQuade, Vice President of Business Development of AMEX. “Stocks listed on AMEX are able to attract institutional and personal investments worldwide.” ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are the most popular product of exchanges in the world. There are up to 600 ETFs with assets totaling $500 billion. The first ETF was launched at Canada’s Toronto Stock Exchange, but it was AMEX that popularized it. There are now more than 200 active ETFs on AMEX, many of which are innovative products and some are patented. In 1993, AMEX introduced the SPDR (Standard & Poor’s Depository Receipts) ETF based on S&P as the target investment index. This so-called “spider” ETF is currently the largest ETF in the world by market value. It was worth $54.5 billion as of June 30, 2006. Afterward, AMEX and Nasdaq jointly launched the NASDAQ 100 Index Tracking Stock, which is currently the most actively traded ETF. On June 4, 2007, AMEX launched the China-oriented Xinhua/FTSE China 25 Index Fund Options.

(Xinhua Finance)