China’s banks shake off fear of foreign climes

Most have followed their clients’ businesses abroad. Now it’s time for them to learn the lesson of Alibaba’s listing in New York and become true international finance players.

Alibaba’s decision to list in New York rather than Hong Kong is a blow for the latter market and marks an important moment in the international development of Chinese companies. It also provides lessons that Chinese banks would do well to heed.

Alibaba is big, with a grey-market capitalization estimated at the top end at $250 billion. This would place it in the top-10 largest companies in the world, ahead of Wal-Mart, General Electric, Microsoft and IBM.