New IPO

A closed-door meeting on initial public offering （IPO） reform was held recently， the China Securities Journal reported on September 16.

Allotment of shares and the number of offline placements were among the topics discussed in an effort to optimize new issues pricing and protect individual investors， according to participants of the meeting， which include regulators， investment banks and academics， the report said.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission in June began soliciting public opinion on a plan to reform IPOs. The plan provides greater freedom in IPO launch timing as well as pricing of new stock issues by allowing qualified individual investors to participate in offline placements. The plan also introduces stricter rules on the controlling investors， board directors and senior management of listed companies.

IPOs on China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have been suspended for nearly one year， and market expectations are growing for their resumption.

huawei’s EU Investment

Huawei， China’s telecom equipment giant and a global supplier of information and communication technology （ICT）， has doubled its investment in research and development （R&D） in Europe since 2010， said the company on September 13.

“We expect it will double again over the next five years，” said Renato Lombardi， Vice President of Huawei’s European Research Center.

“Huawei is committed to reinvesting a minimum of 10 percent of revenue in R&D every year，”said Lombardi. “In 2012， we reinvested over 13 percent in R&D， one of the largest single commitments to R&D in the ICT industry by a private company，” he said.

Huawei creates about 7，500 jobs in Europe， including 800 researchers in its 13 European R&D sites based in Sweden， Finland， Britain， Germany， France， Belgium， Ireland and Italy. Its first overseas laboratory was opened in 2000 in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.