ONCE again a Chinese stock faces a test which it should not have to sit. If Zhenhai Refining and Chemical cannot get a good clean start in life at the price which has been set by lead manager Baring, the questions over the strategies being employed over H and N shares will flare up again.
There is disquiet among the investment banking parlours about the approach to listing Chinese shares by some banks - but so far the fingers have been pointing at some of the the US houses.
This time it is the British approach which is being put on the rack.
The thrust of the criticism so far is that the expectations of the clients are being massaged too vigorously by advisers who are anxious to hang primary issue scalps on their belts, and show the world that they can hack it in China.
The competition for mandates has been honed by the relatively quiet conditions which the big investment banks are facing. The desks are manned - probably over-manned - by expensive bodies, but the fees are getting scarce, hence the expectations of some fine, or not so fine, tuning in investment banking departments.
This is of no concern to the companies being advised. What they want is the money, and that is what they have got, so far.
