Beijing may finally be opening the doors to its huge and rapidly growing financial industry and that is sparking a revival in the fortunes of blue-blooded red chip China Everbright Ltd.
Everbright Ltd - not to be confused with listed stablemate China Everbright International - represents one of the few ways to gain exposure to the mainland's securities and banking sectors through the Hong Kong stock market.
'The outlook is very positive. Anybody involved in the banking and securities sectors is on the growth track,' HSBC Securities China research director Jeannie Cheung Lai-ping said.
Everbright's portfolio of assets includes a 49 per cent stake in top-10 broker Everbright Securities and 20 per cent of China Everbright Bank, the country's sixth largest lender.
With China's World Trade Organisation entry looming, the pace of reform in the financial sector is picking up.
Among the big changes being planned by securities regulators is the opening up of the A-share markets to foreign investors, an acceleration of the flotation of state enterprises, relaxation of listing requirements and the development of a pensions industry.
