3 indices on SOEs to be released soon

CHINA Securities Index Co and the Shanghai Stock Exchange will begin public trading of three stock indices on March 30 to reflect performance of centrally administered state-owned enterprises publicly listed on the country's two stock markets, they announced yesterday.

The three indices are CSI Central State-owned Enterprises Composite Index, CSI Central State-owned Enterprises 100 Index and SSE Central State-owned Enterprises 50 Index.

They are set at 1,000 on the base date of December 31, 2008.

The SSE and Shenzhen Stock Exchange have more than 260 central SOEs listed with a combined market capitalization at more than 7.8 trillion yuan (US$1.14 trillion). The figure accounts for 56 percent of the total market capitalization of A-shares of the two exchanges.

The listed central SOEs constitute the pillar of China's economy, covering major industries such as aviation, telecommunication, energy, transport and finance.

As of Friday, CSI Central SOEs rose 18 percent to 1,178 points from December 31. CSI Central SOEs 100 stood at 1,165 points, up 17 percent and SSE Central SOEs 50 gained 14 percent to 1,142 points.