It now ranks the third largest in Asia after the Tokyo and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

A total of 675 companies had been listed on the bourse by the end of June this year, raising 410 billion yuan (US$49.39 billion), latest statistics show.

Since 2000, 36 large- and medium-sized state-owned enterprises, including the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and Shanghai Baogang Company, have been successfully listed on the stock exchange. Each of these enterprises issued more than 100 million yuan (US$12.05 million) shares for the first time.

The bourse's total shares' value has grown from the original 3 billion yuan (US$316.44 million) to the current 3.1 trillion yuan (US$373.4 billion) in a period of 10 years, ranking 13th among the world's over 200 stock exchanges.

At present, the Shanghai Stock Exchange handles A and B shares, securities and various funds.

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2002)