After five months trying to win Chinese listings, The London Stock Exchange still faces a tough challenge as Chinese companies become less reliant on foreign cash.
The LSE - subject of a takeover battle between Deutsche Boerse and Euronext - hopes to woo new business by highlighting its China-hungry European investor base and IPO fees that are cheaper in London than in New York.
Hong Kong is the dominant overseas venue for Chinese IPOs, leaving the LSE, the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and the Singapore Stock Exchange as alternative markets.
"Potential listings is by far the dominant focus in the short term," Jane Zhu, LSE's head of Asia-Pacific, said at the exchange's new office at Two International Finance Centre, the city's tallest skyscraper and home also to Swiss securities house UBS and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.
Last year, Chinese companies sold US$6.3 billion (£3.35 billion) worth of IPOs through Hong Kong listings and have sold $12.2 billion (£6.5 billion) in new issues since the beginning of 2002, according to Dealogic.
In December, the LSE landed a major coup when Air China, the country's biggest airline, listed its shares in Hong Kong and London in a $1.2 billion (£640 million) IPO.
