BEIJING, Oct. 25-- Euronext, a leading stock exchange in Europe, wants to encourage Chinese businesses to list in Europe.

Chinese firms will find Euronext a gateway to the euro zone, Erik Wenngren, director of international listing at Euronext, said recently in Beijing.

"Euronext, a combination of the stock markets of four European countries, can offer Chinese issuers a unique access point for the European Union economic area, one of the world's most important market places with 453 million consumers," he said.

Chinese enterprises that wish to raise capital from Europe will find Euronext very helpful, he said.

Wenngren continued that the exchange has a strong fundraising ability.

Last year, it raised up to 9.4 billion euros(US$11.53 billion) of fresh capital, accounting for 31 per cent of the European total.

The exchange has so far raised 6.6 billion euros(US$8.10 billion) this year.

Wenngren said Euronext is a pan-national market, without borders for foreign capital, and that it treats foreign issuers fairly."All of them(listed firms) have the chance to join the main index."

He stressed that after listing on Euronext, Chinese firms will enjoy international exposure and publicity.

Wenngren told China Daily that Chinese State-owned firms and high-tech companies are their main targets.

"We have abundant experience in the privatization of State-owned enterprises, and have successfully helped enterprises in various countries. I believe we can also help Chinese companies," he said.

He added that Euronext would particularly welcome large enterprises from sectors such as energy and telecommunications.

Euronext has its main market, the Eurolist, and a new market created for small and medium-sized high-growth companies, called Alternext.

"The large number of small and medium-sized high-tech companies will find Alternext a good way to raise capital," he noted.

It normally takes half a year for a firm to go through all the procedures for listing on Euronext, and listing costs from around 10,000 euros(US$12,000) to 100,000 euros(US$120,000).

Euronext has held a series of promotional activities in China.

During the China High-Tech Fair, which was held in Shenzhen earlier this month, 75 Chinese firms attended Euronext's seminar.

"We have spent five years consolidating our resources and exchange platform. We are now ready to expand overseas," Wenngren said.

Euronext has set up four international markets: China, Russia, Israel and India."We think China, the world's fastest growing economy, is our most important target," he said.

Euronext brings together the stock markets of Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Portugal.

It was founded five years ago.

With the largest central orderbook trading in Europe, its average daily turnover is 6.5 billion euros(US$8 billion).

So far, 1,300 companies have listed on Euronext, 25 per cent of which are non-EU firms, including Hitachi, McDonalds, Maroc Telecom and Sharp.