South China's PPRD (Pan-Pearl River Delta) region is to take concrete steps toward integrating its capital market, according to sources with an ongoing forum being held in Chengdu City of southwest China's Sichuan Province on Tuesday.

Song Hai, vice-governor of south China's Guangdong Province, said it was an urgent task to establish a multi-layer capital market catering to specific financial needs of varied enterprises in the vast PPRD region, which is shared by one third of the country's population and contributing to over 40 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product.

According to the provincial leader, the region should phase in a united, well-regulated regional bond market as well as a regional property right trading platform.

"We should iron out any obstacle to the free flow of information, resources and products in the region," said Song while addressing a seminar on PPRD capital market on the sideline of the Second PPRD Regional Cooperation and Development Forum running Monday to Thursday.

In order to facilitate integration of the regional capital market, measures should be taken to explore monetary cooperation and strengthen financial regulation, according to Song.

The PPRD framework, officially launched in 2004, encompasses Guangdong, Fujian, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hainan, Jiangxi, Guangdong provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region plus HongKong and Macao Special Administrative Region.

Financial cooperation in the vast region has caught increasing attention since the ambitious framework was launched as a strategic move to combine the Pearl River Delta's manufacturing might with Hong Hong's well-established financial capability.

By the end of 2004, the nine mainland PPRD members homed to 415 listed companies and 19 fund companies, accounting for 30 and 41 percent of the national total respectively. In addition, 48 securities companies are located in the PPRD region.

To make the regional financial cooperation even more promising is Hong Kong's unique standing as a global financial center.

"Hong Kong loves to provide a platform for PPRD enterprises to seek for investment," said Frederick S. Ma, Hong Kong's secretary for financial services and the treasury, here on Tuesday.

Currently, about 80 enterprises from the nine mainland PPRD members are listed in Hong Kong, over one fourth of all the Hong Kong-listed mainland companies. Ma predicted the number of PPRD enterprises trying waters in Hong Kong's capital market will grow further under the PPRD framework and the CEPA (Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) arrangement.

Editor: Yan