Global attention may be centered on China’s newly-launched bond connect, but mainland equity markets will remain attractive, amid a “booming” pipeline of initial public offerings expected for the remainder of 2017, Ringo Choi, Asia Pacific IPO leader at consultancy EY, said on Thursday.

“I think traditionally bonds and equities are the opposite or opponent of each other, people will (move) money from one market to the other,” Choi told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday.

“But for China, especially with such huge demand and also with the high liquidity so far, (many people with) money overseas still want to invest in China. That’s why we think that (the bond and equity markets in China) will not be as closely related as other countries,” he added.

The stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen had more than 200 IPOs in the first half of this year, Choi said, as China accelerated efforts to clear a backlog of some 800 companies wanting to list.

That trend should continue, Choi added, which means the IPO scene in China will stay active for the rest of the year.

Greater China stock exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong topped IPO activity in Asia Pacific in the first half of 2017, helping the region to dominate the share of global new listings at 468 deals, or 61 percent of total IPOs worldwide, EY said in a report last week.

The total $37 billion raised in Asia Pacific account for 44 percent of global proceeds, the report said.

Globally, IPO volume in the first six months of 2017 climbed 70 percent on-year to 772 deals, while proceeds rose by 90 percent to $83.4 billion, the report said.

Source: cnbc china
China's new bond connect won't ruin interest in mainland equities: EY