Online Stock Trading Expected to BoomLured by high-tech opportunities and the huge potential of the stock market expected after China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), accelerating the development of on-line stock trading has become a hot issue on the domestic market, according to Chinadaily."It is inevitable that China will develop on-line stock trading," said a spokesman with the Homeway Information Technology Co Ltd, which runs Homeway.com.cn, the largest financial portal in China. The development of on-line stock trading can make business life easier for investors with regard to time and space. "It will greatly lower the operational costs of securities companies," he said. On the other hand, on-line stock trading could provide personalized services to stockholders such as information services, consultancy and virtual community services. Reliable sources said China has approximately 50 million stockholders. About 34 per cent of China's 16.9 million Internet surfers are using the Internet to obtain stock-related information and services. More than 200 stock operating organizations have gotten involved in on-line stock trading, with on-line trading taking up a meager 3 per cent in the total trading volume of China's stock markets. In response to the market potential, Homeway Information Technology Co Ltd this summer began offering an on-line stock trading platform in China, the new Homeway TOP (trading on-line platform) system, called "summer storm," to serve the already hot on-line stock trading market. The TOP system is a platform suitable for international practice with an eye to domestic situations. It is a comprehensive solutions-based programme compatible with most Web browsers and software used by the company's customers. According to the company, it is scheduled to promote the system during July and August. Free installations of the TOP system, technological upgrades, free periodicals on finance and PC donations will be offered as incentives to try the programme. Analysts said the launch of the platform will contribute to improving the services concerned with on-line stock trading and will therefore assist the sector. Homeway.com predicted that on-line stock traders are likely to exceed 4 million this year. The TOP system is compatible with various terminals including PCs, mobile phones, pagers and PDAs (personal digital assistants), and can meet the demands of brokers and investors simultaneously in regard to on-line financial information services, stock analyses and personalized services. "We will continue to take an active role in co-operating with security companies to develop on-line stock trading," he said. |
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