Beijing has repeatedly missed out over the years on the trappings of a financial centre and Mr Xiong sees the exchange as the capital's best chance to right that wrong.

The exchange was established in February last year by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) to help sell state-owned assets.

In November last year, the government introduced a law requiring all transactions involving state firms be done through official asset exchanges, of which there are more than 200 across the country.

The Beijing entity is the poor cousin to the larger Shanghai exchange. But it is trying to expand its scope and customer base and is even courting the media, a rare move for a quasi-government entity.

The exchange works partly as an over-the-counter bulletin board, similar to those in the United States, but also functions as an auction house for non-performing loans and a property exchange selling individual assets. According to Sasac regulations, the exchange publicly tenders all state-owned assets brought to market for a minimum of 20 days.

'We want to become a pure equity trading market and perhaps one day the Nasdaq of China,' Mr Xiong said.

Zhang Wenkui, vice-director of enterprise research at the Development Research Centre of the State Council, was doubtful. 'After the majority of state-owned enterprises have been privatised in about five years, the business of these exchanges will disappear,' he said.

China is rapidly privatising much of its centrally planned economy.

As the transformation accelerates, state-owned companies are increasingly looking for foreign capital to buy their assets.

'Over the past few years, most equity sellers have been small and medium-sized companies and their buyers mostly domestic private ventures,' Mr Xiong said.

'But in the future, as giant state-owned enterprises come to the exchange, the deals will involve huge amounts of money that only foreign funds can afford.'