(Yicai Global) Feb. 9 -- Chinese appliance maker Haier Co. spoke out today to clarify that it is mulling a D-share listing in Germany, but hasn't made any fixed plans yet.

Reuters reported yesterday that the Qingdao-based firm would become the first to issue D-shares, named after the German autonym, via the China Europe International Exchange in Frankfurt. The listing would fetch EUR1 billion (USD1.2 billion), the report added, saying two other companies would list simultaneously but did not disclose their names.

China has been stepping up links with its capital markets over the past year or so. As well as setting up the Shanghai- and Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock and bond connect programs to encourage foreign investment, it plans to link the Shanghai bourse directly to the London Stock Exchange this year.

CEINEX is a joint venture between Shanghai Stock Exchange, China Financial Futures Exchange and Deutsche Borse AG. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel witnessed the 2015 birth of the exchange, which offers yuan-based financial products for investors in Frankfurt.

The new bourse is accelerating talks with issuers, lawyers, accountancies and regulators in China and Germany in order to roll out the first batch of D-shares in 2018, Chen Han, co-chief executive, said in Berlin in November.