The stocks of listed companies in my country are divided into A shares, B shares, and H shares. This distinction mainly depends on where the stocks are listed and the investors they face.
The official name of A-shares is RMB common stock. It is a common stock issued by a company in my country for domestic institutions, organizations or individuals (excluding investors from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Australia) to subscribe and trade in RMB. In 1990, there were only 10 A-shares in my country. By December 2005, the number of A-shares increased to 1,358. The total share capital of A-shares was 762.9 billion shares, with a total market value of 3,243 billion yuan and a circulating market value of 1,063 billion yuan. After several years of rapid development, my country's A-share stock market has begun to take shape.
The official name of B shares is RMB Special Stock. It is a stock that is denominated in Renminbi, subscribed and traded in foreign currency, and listed and traded on the domestic (Shanghai, Shenzhen) stock exchange. Before February 2001, investors in B shares were limited to: foreign natural persons, legal persons and other organizations, natural persons, legal persons and other organizations in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, Chinese citizens residing abroad, and regulations of the China Securities Regulatory Commission Other investors. After February 19, 2001, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced the opening of the B-share market, allowing domestic residents who hold legal foreign exchange to open accounts to buy and sell B-shares freely.
Since the first B share-Shanghai Electrovacuum B share was issued and listed at the end of 1991, after 6 years of development, China's B share market has developed from a local market to a national market managed by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. By the end of 2005, there were 109 B-share stocks in my country, with a total share capital of 19.701 billion shares and a total market value of 74.622 billion yuan. The B-share market is much smaller than the A-share market.
In recent years, my country has also made some useful explorations in B-share derivatives and other aspects. For example, in 1995, Shenzhen CSG successfully issued B-share convertible bonds, and Shekou China Merchants Port conducted a pilot program for a second listing in Singapore; four companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen also conducted B-share conversions into first-tier ADRs. Pilot trading in the US OTC market, etc.
H shares, also known as overseas listed foreign shares, are shares issued and listed overseas by domestic listed companies. Since the issuance of Tsingtao Brewery's H shares in Hong Kong in 1993, more than 200 Chinese companies have been listed overseas. These companies are basically in a leading position in various industries, and to a certain extent reflect the overall development level and growth potential of China's economy. By the end of 2005, 120 companies had issued H shares, including China Construction Bank, Sinopec, Ping An Insurance, China COSCO, Dongfeng Motor, China Telecom, Tsingtao Brewery, PetroChina, etc., with a total market value of HK$1.4869 billion.