The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which has just been given go-ahead to open a representative office in Beijing, announced on Wednesday that the new office will be inaugurated by the end of this year.

Catherine R. Kinney, President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of NYSE Euronext, told reporters Wednesday in Beijing that the go-ahead, the first after China's rules allowing overseas bourses to set up offices came into effect on July 1, is a historical event for both the U.S.-based stock exchange and the global capital markets.

NYSE is a subsidiary of NYSE Euronext, a holding company created by the combination of NYSE Group, INc. and Euronext N.V. NYSE Euronext connected trading on April 4, 2007, and now operates the world's largest and most liquid exchange group.

The approval is widely believed to help the NYSE to woo more initial public offerings in the fastest-growing major economy.

"Currently, all global investors are showing great interests in Chinese companies, and China has also become the fastest growing source of initial public offerings for us,” said Kinney.

"It's a very good choice for Chinese firms to get listed on the globalized capital markets when many of them are growing globally."

"Five or six more Chinese companies are expected to be listed on the NYSE by the end of 2007, with more to come in the coming years," She said, adding that eight Chinese firms have gotten listed on the NYSE since the beginning of the year.

The president said a total 40 Chinese firms, including 28 from the mainland, seven from Hong Kong, and five from Taiwan, have been listed in the NYSE.

The combined market capitalization of the 28 mainland companies reached 790 billion U.S. dollars, ranging from 400 million U.S. dollars to 232 billion U.S. dollars each.