IPO重启：新股票，新希望？

Temperatures are picking up at least in the Chinese IPO market. Two companies have kicked off subscriptions in the mainland market. They are among the 83 companies which have got the green light from the securities market watchdog, the China Securities and Regulatory Commission. 50 new stocks may already get listed by the end of January. But the question now is: will these new investment opportunities meet investors' appetite?

Subscriptions open for the IPOs of two Chinese companies, Guangdong Xinbao Electrical Appliances and Zhejiang Wolwo Bio-Pharmaceutical.

That marks the official resumption of initial public offerings on Wednesday on the Chinese mainland after a freeze of more than a year.

Neither of the them gets listed on Shanghai’s A-share main board, but only on the Shenzhen bourse so far.

The two together are expected to raise more than 1,000 million Yuan.

Looking forward, some A-share strategists say that the valuations of the first batch of IPOs are expected to be pushed higher after their debuts, as investors are passionate after a long thirst.

But will they actually buy these two stocks?

"Guangdong Xinbao has a price-to-earnings ratio of 30, above an industry average of 22, while the PE ratio of Zhejiang Wolwo is 39. The ratios are set lower than we've seen before, but they are still not cheap and not attractive enough compared with stocks on the secondary market," financial commentator Lin Yun says.

The top securities market regulator, the CSRC, says there will be a total of 50 new companies going public in January.

Analysts see the new round of IPOs the finalists of a long-distance run.

"These fifty companies have passed the strictest financial auditing and health checks. Some have been waiting for more than a year, while some have queued up for more than two years. And the market has been longing for the day of an IPO reboot," Wu Jing, head of IBD of Hongyuan Securities, says.

We still have to wait until Friday when the two newly listed companies announce the results of their subscriptions.