False money company aims for stock market listing

Selling false paper money, used on traditional occasions to pay respects to ancestors, is not the only business for a Chinese folk culture company, which is applying for listing on the stock market.

Guangdong Yixiang Folk Culture Co, which produces and sells products including false paper money that is mainly used in ancestor worship and sacrificial ceremonies, applied to the National Equities Exchange and Quotations to be listed on the New Third Board, aiming to facilitate its business expansion.

The New Third Board, which was launched in late 2012, has so far attracted some 2,500 firms, mostly in the technology sector.

"As a folk culture company, we are not only selling products for the purposes of worship and sacrifice, but we are also promoting traditional Chinese culture, especially to overseas Chinese people," said Xu Shaohong, general manager of Yixiang.

According to Xu, the company has introduced advanced technologies in processing and developed a team in research and design.

Yixiang, based in Shantou, Guangdong province, now makes more than 200 products, which are mainly sold in Southeast Asian countries and regions including Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, with sales reaching nearly 40 million yuan ($6.18 million) in the first nine months of this year.

"The application for listing on the stock market is based on a fast growing market demand for products used in ancestor worship and sacrificial ceremonies in Southeast Asia," said Xu.

Overseas Chinese people in Southeast Asia, whose ancestors were mainly from Guangdong and Fujian provinces, have developed the habit of paying respect to their ancestors on some important occasions by using false paper money and other memorial products.

According to industrial sources, the market value for worship and sacrificial products in Malaysia exceeds 10 billion yuan a year.

The company also plans to sell its products in Thailand and Myanmar, Xu said.