By the end of last September, the stock market capital of 207 overseas-listed Chinese companies had reached $617.6 billion, including $491.1 billion from foreign shareholders, which accounted for 79 percent of the total.

These figures come from new data that the State Administration of Foreign Exchange released on Thursday. The high proportion of foreign shareholders shows that Chinese businesses are increasingly being recognized by international investors.

In recent years, more and more domestic companies have chosen to be listed overseas. From the perspective of China's external financial assets and liabilities, those stocks issued by domestic enterprises overseas increase China’s foreign debt if their shares are held by foreign shareholders.

In 2015, China’s Foreign Exchange Bureau began to conduct surveys on the market value of Chinese companies listed overseas. Among all Chinese companies listed, 33 had over 10 percent of their shares held by single foreign shareholders, with a total market value of $17 billion. Foreign shareholders with less than 10 percent of total shares had a market value of $474.1 billion.

Most overseas-listed companies are not financial enterprises, but financial institutions have a bigger proportion of the market value. Only 25 of 207 overseas-listed Chinese companies are banks and financial institutions, but they have 67 percent of the total market value.