BEIJING, May 26 (Xinhuanet) -- NASDAQ Stock Market Inc. said Thursday it had signed an agreement with two important manufacturing and industrial provinces in China to encourage companies there to list on its exchange.

    Two booming eastern provinces, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, have agreed that NASDAQ will be the preferred stock exchange for their companies when listing in the United States.

    NASDAQ said the agreement was signed with the Zhejiang Provincial Financial Affairs Office, based in Hangzhou, and the Jiangsu Provincial Economic and Trade Commission, based in Nanjing.

    NASDAQ and rival NYSE Group Inc. have been pushing to get increased listings from countries such as China, but issues such as the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules have been cited as a dissuader for some firms to list in the United States.

    A number of big initial public offerings have recently been heading to local exchanges.

    Bank of China, the country's second-biggest bank, raised US$9.7 billion Wednesday through its share sale in Hong Kong, and plans to follow up its Hong Kong sale with a listing on the mainland.

    China Merchants Bank plans to raise about US$2 billion in a Hong Kong listing this year.

    Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest bank, is eyeing a listing in Hong Kong before the end of the year worth up to US$12 billion.

    NASDAQ said it had 28 Chinese companies listed with a market cap of US$734 million.

(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)