Chinese online video game maker Changyou.com Ltd made a successful debut in the US capital market on Thursday as the Nasdaq's first initial public offering of the year.

Fueled by a market rally with the Nasdaq composite index rising 3.29 percent, Changyou shares surged as much as 50 percent before retreating to US$20.02 a share, gaining over 25 percent, at the end of trading.

Changyou, carved from Sohu as a separate company in December 2007, developed the popular multiplayer online role-playing game Tian Long Ba Bu. It also operates the game Blade Online under license.

Changyou had total revenues of 201.8 million dollars and net income of 108 million dollars in 2008, according to a company statement.

Changyou opened trading on Thursday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market after its US$120 million IPO received solid demand from investors.

It was only the third IPO in the US since August 2008, and the largest Chinese IPO on an American exchange since December 2007, according to Thomson Reuters.

"Due to the current financial crisis, we really have not seen any IPOs (in a long time). So we are very excited to welcome Changyou to Nasdaq," Bruce Aust, an exchange official, told Xinhua, "We hope this has opened the door to many more companies who want to go public on Nasdaq."

Many US-listed Chinese companies, Aust said, have performed well even though the global recession has affected most countries and industries.

Changyou's major rivals, such as Giant Interactive Group, Shanda Interactive Entertainment and NetEase.com have all seen share prices rise between 6 percent and 22 percent this year.

Aust, who has worked with nearly every Chinese company when it went public on Nasdaq, said that one great thing about the firms is their business spirit.

"They are great entrepreneurs, they have great ideas, and have great ways to develop on those ideas," Aust said.

The executive sees great potential in Chinese technology companies because they are creative and innovative. "If you have the right business model, have something that the industry is very interested in, I think you will have a very good story," he said.

With more than 70 Chinese companies listed with NASDAQ OMX Group and more still to come, Nasdaq has been exploring the Chinese market. Last week, Nasdaq announced that China's Guotai Asset Management has executed an exclusive licensing agreement with NASDAQ OMX to use the Nasdaq-100 index in the development of an exchange traded product in China. It will be the first foreign index-linked financial product in China.

"We are proud of our presence in the region," Aust said, "Our goal will be to bring companies like Changyou to market, continue to build on our market technology business in the region, and continue to bring innovative product like the index highlighting the creativity and innovations in the Chinese region."

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2009)