Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi (C, front) and United States Secretary of Treasury Henry M.Paulson (2nd L, front) cut ribbon at the opening ceremony of the Beijing representative office of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Beijing, capital of China on Dec. 11, 2007.

BEIJING, Dec. 12 - The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) officially inaugurated its Beijing office here on Tuesday. Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson were present at the opening ceremony. NYSE was the first foreign exchange to receive approval from the Chinese government to open a representative office in China. Paulson said the opening of the office reflected China's World Trade Organization commitment to open its capital market, and with the opening of the market, China would be further integrated into the global capital market. On Sept. 4, it was disclosed the NYSE had received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to open a representative office in Beijing. It was the first foreign exchange to receive such an approval. Since July 1, foreign exchanges have been allowed to set up representative offices after receiving approvals. "The new office will serve to provide on-the-ground support for our listed companies and strengthen our presence in China," said NYSE Euronext (NYX) chief executive Duncan L. Niederauer, who was on his first overseas trip since becoming exchange boss earlier this year. He said as a global economic powerhouse, China would continue to develop its capital markets and the U.S. side would go forward as a partner with China to strengthen cooperation. NYSE Euronext is a holding company that was created by the merger of the NYSE Group, Inc. and Euronext N.V. in April. NYSE Euronext started trading on April 4 and operates the world's largest and most liquid exchange group. The NYSE lists 36 Chinese mainland companies with a total market capitalization of 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars.