A delegation from Guernsey has visited Shenzhen as the first step along the road to having Guernsey companies listed on the local stock exchange.

The visit came in the days after a specific event was held in Hong Kong to promote the fact that in May this year Guernsey received approval for its companies to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx). It also followed from Guernsey officials meeting with the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) to assess the potential for Guernsey companies to be listed on that exchange.

The Guernsey delegation included Carla McNulty Bauer, Minister of the Commerce and Employment Department, Alan Bougourd, Registrar of Companies at the Guernsey Registry, Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance, and his Deputy, Fiona Le Poidevin.

They met with a five-strong team from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), including Assistant President Zhou Jian Nan.

The Minister said: "We were very well received by Assistant President Zhou and his team. They gave us a presentation about their exchange and we explained about Guernsey's finance industry and in particular the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX). Indeed, it was very interesting to note that Shenzhen has some 1,300 securities listed whereas there are more than 4,200 listings on the CISX. Shenzhen is very much in its infancy and currently focused more on small and medium sized entities – whereas Shanghai seems to be attracting sizeable structures – and their team was extremely interested in the role that the CISX plays within Guernsey's finance industry.

"Of course, we have already received approval for Guernsey companies to list on HKEx, we have held discussions with the SGX to assess the potential for Guernsey companies to be listed on that exchange and we have a long standing relationship with the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE). It is very early days but we hope that the talks are the first step down the road to Guernsey companies being listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange."

The visit to Shenzhen came after a week of activity in Singapore, including attendance at the STEP Asia conference and a week of meetings and events in Hong Kong, including the Guernsey listings seminar and participation at the AVCJ Forum.

For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.

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