SHANGHAI, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Stock Exchange, one of China's two bourses, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with its European counterpart, Euronext, pledging to enhance cooperation on capital markets.

    Industry observers say the new document will pave the way for Chinese companies to launch public offerings in Europe.

    Euronext has integrated bourses in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal with the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE), the world's second largest derivatives market.

    Executives from both stock exchanges said Thursday the cooperation deal aims to bring Chinese financial products to the European market and introduce services provided by Euronext to China. The services include offshore listings, futures markets, personnel and information exchange and market exploration.

    The most noteworthy are services for offshore listings, industry observers say.

    Jean-Francois Theodore, Euronext chairman and CEO, said at the signing ceremony that Euronext hopes to provide access for Chinese companies to the euro zone. European investors are willing to invest significant amounts of capital in growth firms in China.

    Euronext consists of Eurolist and Alternext. Industry observers believe Alternext may suit smaller Chinese companies better. A minimum of 2.5 million euros has been set for public offerings.

    No companies from the Chinese mainland have yet listed on Euronext. But about a dozen have expressed their interest in going public on the transnational bourse, according to a senior executive from Euronext. Enditem