Bourse showdown in China

The race is on between exchange operators to woo China.

Last week, Nasdaq opened a Beijing office. NYSE Euronext, parent of the New York Stock Exchange, will get a pied-a-terre in the same city on Wednesday. The mega-bourses are hoping their presence in Beijing will attract more Chinese companies' initial public offerings -- the country is now the single largest source of offshore IPOs and secondary listings in the world.

The date of the Big Board's incursion onto Chinese soil is significant: it comes on the eve of the next round of the strategic economic dialogue with the United States. China agreed late last year to let the NYSE and Nasdaq open offices in Beijing as part of deals struck during the first round of this dialogue. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will lead the US delegation to the talks this week, which will take place near Beijing.

The deal gives the NYSE and Nasdaq the legal status openly to court Chinese companies via roadshows, promote their business directly to Chinese firms, and raise brand awareness by sponsoring public events.

But they face competition. While the NYSE and Nasdaq raised $5.7 billion for Chinese companies through IPOs this year, Shanghai was hot on their heels, with $4.2 billion.