(Yicai Global) June 23 -- The Chinese mainland’s two major stock markets are set to be the world’s biggest and second-largest venues for stock listings by funds raised in the first half, according to The Paper, which cited research by financial services provider Deloitte.

In the six months ending June 30, the 68 newly listed stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange will have raised a combined CNY208.7 billion (USD31.1 billion), the report published by Deloitte China’s capital market services department showed yesterday. The 81 companies that floated on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange will have banked a total of CNY99.4 billion.

And although the number of initial public offering in the Chinese mainland will have fallen 31 percent from a year earlier, the amount raised will have jumped 49 percent, Deloitte added.

The achievement follows years of deepening reforms and regulations to encourage so-called red chips, or companies that do most of their business in China, to return to the home stock market, it said.

Ongoing and deepening market reforms will inject strong impetus into the performance of the so-called A-share market, or mainland stocks, in the second half of the year, when new share sales are expected to pick up pace, Deloitte said.

Deloitte expects the Star Market, the Shanghai exchange’s Nasdaq-like board, to notch up 140 to 160 IPOs this year, raising a possible CNY230 billion (USD34.3 billion) to CNY260 billion. The ChiNext, Shenzhen’s Nasdaq-style trading venue, is expected to have about 190 to 210 IPOs with financing reaching CNY190 billion to CNY215 billion.

On the main boards of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, 80 to 100 new listings will likely pocket CNY140 billion to CNY170 billion this year.

Regulations enticing red chips to list in the mainland have occasioned a number of huge first-half listings in Shanghai, enabling the bourse to top the world by IPO numbers, said Ji Wenhe, managing partner of Deloitte China's national public offering group.

In addition to the return of red chips, the reform of the registration system for stock market listings has also powered the Shenzhen exchange to second spot in the global IPO financing stakes, Ji noted.

Editor: Peter Thomas