The coastal city of Taizhou in East China's Zhejiang Province is marketing itself by not only rolling out the red carpet for overseas investors, but also seeking listing opportunities for its companies abroad.

"We encourage our enterprises to raise capitals both from the domestic and overseas markets," Taizhou Mayor Zhang Hongming said at the Taizhou Enterprise Promotion Conference yesterday.

The conference is a key part of the 2006 Hong Kong Taizhou Week that began in Hong Kong on November 15, and is aimed at "facilitating mutual understanding between Taizhou companies and those interested in them".

"Our aim is to have about 30 companies listed and to raise around 10 billion yuan (US$1.25 billion) by 2010," Zhang said. So far, seven Taizhou firms have been listed on the main board of the mainland's bourse.

Geely Automobile, the mainland's major economy carmaker was Taizhou's first company to be listed in Hong Kong.

"Taizhou is famous for its individual-owned enterprises," Zhang said. "They comprise 99 per cent of the city's total number of firms... and account for 96 per cent of Taizhou's GDP."

"We will introduce to and promote in Hong Kong more than 30 enterprises this time and all of them are excellent."

Four Taizhou companies were introduced in Hong Kong yesterday, seeking listings in Hong Kong, Singapore and London.

Hong Kong Stock Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) executive director Fok Kwong-man welcomed the Taizhou companies to join Hong Kong's bourse.

"The number of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong has increased to 355 from 71 ten years ago... their trading volume today accounts for 58 per cent of HKEx's total compared to just 11 per cent in 1996," Fok said.

"Hong Kong is an ideal place for small- and medium-sized enterprises to raise capital."

Fok said that among the companies listed in Hong Kong, 62 per cent had a less than HK$1 billion market value. "In the past four years as many as 200 companies have had their IPOs in Hong Kong, with 75 per cent of them belonging to this category."

"The number of mainland individual-owned companies to be listed in Hong Kong, too, has grown from 2 in 1994 to 166.

"These are positive signs for Taizhou enterprises seeking listing in Hong Kong."

Taizhou's GDP has grown at an average of more than 13 per cent a year over the past two decades. Its GDP in the first half of the year reached 67.2 billion yuan (US$8.4 billion), up 15.3 per cent year on year.

Zhang said Taizhou would soon launch 113 key projects that would attract up to US$5.6 billion in overseas investments.

"Hong Kong is Taizhou's largest overseas investor... we welcome and expect more Hong Kong entrepreneurs to set up shop in our city," Zhang said.