Day 1 - Tuesday 11th March 2008

08:30 Registration and morning refreshments

09:00 Chairman's Opening Remarks

Keith Mullin, Editor-in-chief, IFR

09:10 Projected capital needs to drive Chinese growth

• Is current economic growth sustainable?
• What needs to be done to maintain this heady growth rate?
• What will Chinese capital requirements be over the next ten years?
• Is the domestic market sufficiently big enough to absorb the capital requirements of Chinese growth?
• What role will international capital markets play? 

9:40 Exploring financial market regulation

• Looking at the opening up of the domestic market and examining successes and shortcomings
• Rehabilitation and recapitalisation
• What are the restrictions on Chinese companies issuing offshore? And what are the reasons for those restrictions?
• How best to ensure that companies can get access to international markets?
• When will domestic markets be fully opened up to foreign underwriters?

10:10 Latest trends in the Chinese banking system

• Exploring recent developments in large commercial banks
• Discussing improvements in corporate governance standards
• Looking at recent and upcoming M&A activity in the banking sector

10:40 Morning Refreshments

11:10 Dual perspective: What do Chinese companies need to do to pass muster with international investors?

11:40 Exploring listing models for Chinese corporates

• What is the most suitable model? A+H?
•  Valuation: pricing of A shares and H shares
• Convertibility between the two markets - will we see this?

12:10 Lunch

13:30 Syndicated Loans

• Does the relentless reduction in pricing offer golden opportunities for Chinese companies?
• Do Chinese banks meet international standards for syndicated lending?

14:00 Shared Perspective: Equities

• Looking at opportunities to raise international equity capital
• Why the high levels of offshore issuance?
• Onshore/offshore - what are the benefits of listing on the domestic and international Stock Exchanges?
• When will international banks gain access to the domestic market?
• How to choose between the different listing venues

14:40 Equity-linked financing

• Why have Chinese companies used convertibles?
• What is their capital market of choice?
• Have the convertibles done so far been successful?
• What works, what doesn’t?
• Case studies?
• What is the long-term outlook for RMB-denominated issuance?

15:10 Afternoon refreshments

15:40 Corporate Bonds and subordinated/hybrid capital

• Looking at past and future development of Chinese borrowing
• Will investors go down the credit curve to lend to mid-caps?
• Should regulations limiting foreign investments in corporate debt be relaxed further or removed completely?
• Regulatory backdrop for hybrid securities issuance and prospects for Issuance? 

16:10 Securitisation: What are the opportunities for Chinese issuers?

• Current status of offshore securitisation
• Areas of application beyond traditional asset classes
• Legal obstacles to offshore deals
• What happened to the expected wave of CMBS?
• What about other – non-property-related asset classes?
• Are there prospects of issuance from the consumer finance sector?

16:40 Financing Real Estate

• Examining Chinese borrowers' options
• Offshore financing vs. Onshore financing: What are the pros and cons?
• What sources of funding are available onshore, and how do they meet borrower needs?

 
17:10 Chairman’s closing remarks and end of Day One followed by drinks reception

Day 2 - Wednesday 12th March 2008

08:30 Morning refreshments

09:00 Chairman's opening remarks

09:10 Hedging Tools and the Development of International derivatives

• What are the latest regulations, what can be done and what is needed?
• What’s the cost of hedging?
• Currency swaps
• Interest-rate swaps

09:40 Dual perspective: Leveraged Finance

• Case studies
• How to structure an LBO in China
• What are the opportunities for financial sponsors?

10:20 Morning refreshments

10:50 Dual perspective: What opportunities do private equity and venture capital investment provide for Chinese companies?

• What is the regulatory position and approval process?
• Will China’s investment in Blackstone make a difference? Looking at the growth in domestic private equity
• Comparing domestic and international monies
• How will firms exit their investments?

11:30 Shared Perspective: M&A – what’s the outlook for acquirers and targets?

• Looking at the flow outbound from China
• Will this mood for overseas expansions stay?
• What is behind this trend? And will it turn the other way?

12:00 Access to the public market and availability of capital for small and mid-size companies

• Can small and mid-size companies access the public market?
• Availability of capital to small and mid-size companies
• Comparing the reverse merger process with that of a conventional IPO
• Exploring the pros and cons of different listing venues

12:30 Chairman’s closing remarks and end of conference, followed by lunch