By staff reporter You Shanshan

The trans-Atlantic bourse NYSE Euronext is expected to become the first non-Chinese company to offer its shares on mainland stock markets, a China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) official has told Caijing.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said NYSE Euronext would have a good chance to secure permission to list on China's A-share market due to its fine “market value, performance, and compliance.” He declined to give further details.

A spokeswoman at the NYSE Euronext office in Beijing said the bourse, formed last year when the New York Stock Exchange merged with pan-European Euronext, declined comment on the CSRC official's statement. But she acknowledged that the bourse has a strong desire to step into the Chinese securities market -- a goal hinted at recently by NYSE Euronext Group CEO Duncan L. Niederauer.

While attending the opening of the Beijing office of NYSE Euronext in December, Niederauer reportedly told the media that his exchange -- the world's largest -- hoped to play a “partner role” with mainland exchanges to “make it easier and simpler for foreign companies to list on the A-share market.”

Niederauer replaced the former CEO of NYSE Euronext, John Thain, who left in November and told Caijing in an exclusive interview April 10 that “I do not know anything about” the bourse's possible listing in China.

According to the third round of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue in late 2007, China agreed to allow foreign companies operating in China to sell stocks in renminbi, and let qualified foreign banks incorporated in China sell bonds in renminbi.

China is also considering lifting “operating in China” restrictions to give all foreign companies a chance to sell stock on A-share markets. No timetable has been released, but numerous foreign companies and banks have expressed interests in launching A-share trading and have consulted with Chinese regulators.

Shanghai Stock Exchange officials have revealed that potential foreign A-share clients include British bank HSBC, U.S. beverage giant Coca-Cola, and the German conglomerate Siemens.