Sudden Freeze for Shanghai Stock Market Plan

The final countdown seemed well under way in June for the launch of a Shanghai-based international stock exchange when an unforeseen glitch suddenly took the project right back to square one.

The long-awaited project for an international board has now stalled, delaying what were supposed to be the first stock flotations in China by global giants such as HSBC and Coca-Cola. At issue are debates over China’s capital account liberalization process and disagreements on the openness of the market.