ABSTRACT
As we enter a new millennium, it is apparent that the center of world economic
activities, at least in terms of manufacturing, has shifted eastward from the
United States and Europe to China and its neighboring countries through-
out East and Southeast Asia (Dicken 2003; Sklair 1999). Although Western
countries continue to dominate the world economy and financial markets,
the capital markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, and, to a lesser extent,
Shanghai and Shenzen have matured considerably and are eager to become
major global players in the foreseeable future. For instance, the dual listing of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Hong Kong
and Shanghai in October 2006, valued at about US$21.9 billion, represents
the world’s largest IPO ever and easily surpasses the US$18.4 billion raised
by Japan’s NTT Docomo in 1998. In fact, buoyed by several major offerings
from companies in China, including the Bank of China, Hong Kong has
surpassed New York and rivals London as the world’s biggest market for initial
public stock offerings in 2006, clearly indicating China’s growing significance in
international finance.1 While much of the Asian economic ascendance became notable only after China entered the global economic scene in the 1980s, the
trend can be traced back at least a decade earlier when the Four Little Dra-
gons (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) became world
manufacturers and exporters.
