Foreign-currency equities on Chinese mainland bourses have staged blistering gains since the start of the year amid investors' anticipation the counters may be converted into yuan-backed stock, analysts said.

The US dollar-denominated stock index in Shanghai jumped 15.8 percent to 73.06 points as of Friday, compared with an 18 percent decline for the whole of 2005.

The B-share index in Shenzhen, which tracks Hong Kong dollar-backed equities, advanced 12.6 percent to 1,728.05 year-to-date, after losing 5 percent last year.

The uptrends, analysts said, were more or less due to overselling by investors last year but the mainland's ongoing stock shareholding reforms and its approval for foreigners to buy local-currency A stock were main drivers.

"After the nontradable stock issue, it will come to the B shares," said Li Zhi, a Hualin Securities Co. analyst. "With small capitalization and lackluster trading, the foreign-currency stock has virtually lost investment value and should be canceled."

The mainland originally set up two platforms in Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges slated for overseas investors to trade foreign-currency stock but in 2001 opened the sector to Chinese mainland citizens as well.

The trading value on the two B-share markets accounted for less than 1 percent of the total on Chinese mainland last year while overseas investors were given more access to local-currency securities.

The mainland is on track to sell down as much as US$250 billion of yuan-backed non-tradable shares, mostly held by government institutions, in the exchanges through compensating minority shareholders with cash or stock for losses linked to an equity glut.

Owners of B-shares and Hong Kong-listed H-shares, both of which are fully tradable, are not entitled to compensation when the companies they invest in also have local-currency stock.

Regulators this year started to grant overseas investors more access to the yuan-denominated share market, allowing them to hold at least 10 percent of a publicly traded firm within a three-year lock-up period.

Previously, only select foreign institutions could directly buy yuan-backed securities under separate investment quotas set by the government.

"B-shares can be converted into A-shares or be bought back by companies and canceled," said Li, "Either way, holders of foreign-currency stock can receive benefits as these chips are traded with lower valuations compared with A-stock."

(Shanghai Daily January 16, 2006)