Century-old Chinese firms seeking IPOs

More profits: Investors chatting while monitoring stocks at a brokerage in Shanghai. Time-honoured brands seeking IPOs boast cultural and economic value. ― AFP

SHANGHAI: A string of 100-year-old Chinese companies have jumped on the bandwagon of seeking a public debut for renewed development impetus, a signal that the country’s capital market is scaling up support to nurture strong homegrown brands, market experts said.

The latest case in point would be the Zhejiang Wufangzhai Industry Co Ltd, a market leader in the industry of rice dumplings or zongzi, which celebrates its centennial this year.