Pakistan In Focus - ECONOMIC TIMES OF PAKISTAN - Chinese investors keen to pour $2 bn into PSX.

Chinese investors have expressed keen interest in pouring at least $2 billion into Pakistan's stock market.

"Small Chinese stockbrokers having $52 billion in assets under management have shown interest in investing at least $2 billion in shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)," announced PSX Chairman Sulaiman S Mehdi on Friday, as the bourse was being integrated with regional and international stock markets at a cost of $2.85 million.

The Chinese investors expressed the interest in a meeting held last week in China.

Low share prices hovering at 6.5 multiples at the PSX and average dividend yield of 6.2% encouraged them to consider injecting money into the PSX, he said.

Now, the government of Pakistan has to persuade the Chinese government to let its investors invest in Pakistan. Beijing laws require Chinese investors to take permission from the regulators for investment in other countries.

Mehdi said the PSX had signed a contract with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) to acquire a new trading and surveillance system at a cost of $2.85 million.

The new system would connect the PSX with three Chinese international stock markets including the SZSE, Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges. The linkage will allow cross-listing of companies and attract foreign investment in each other's stocks.

Earlier, a Chinese consortium acquired a 40% stake in the PSX - the company running the stock trading platform - at Rs28 per share in January 2017.

A high PSX official told on the sidelines of a conference that the bourse had written three letters to the Ministry of Finance, requesting it to initiate talks with the Chinese government for seeking approval for Chinese investment in the PSX.

"However, no progress has been made so far," he said. "Now, we are planning to take...