The IR Magazine China 2005 Awards were presented at a ceremony on Monday at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai. Chinese companies Sinopec, Suning Corp, Baoshan Iron & Steel, PetroChina, Liuzhou Chemical Industry, China Yangtze Power and China Vanke were voted top in shareholder communications by analysts and the investment community.

Winners were announced at the IR Magazine China Investor Relations Conference & Awards 2005 lunch hosted by IR magazine in association with the Financial Times and The Bank of New York.

Sinopec won two of eight awards distributed – the grand prix for best overall investor relations by a large-cap company and best annual report and other corporate literature. Suning Corp won the grand prix for best overall investor relations by a small or mid-cap company. Baoshan Iron & Steel was voted top for most progress in investor relations. Mao Zefeng, PetroChina's investor relations officer, won the key award of best investor relations officer at a large-cap company.

Winners were selected through an independent survey of 371 sell-side and buy-side analysts and portfolio managers conducted by Hong Kong-based TNS Hong Kong. For the past five years, Cross Border Ltd, publisher of IR magazine and organizer of IR Magazine Awards, has commissioned this survey of the investment community to identify those companies considered to be leading exponents of investor relations in Asia.

The 2005 survey, conducted earlier this year, also has information on topical issues affecting investor relations measuring their level of satisfaction with current standards of corporate financial reporting and corporate governance together with changes they would most like to see in these areas and their expectations of shareholder activism. When it came to the changes respondents most wanted to see in financial reporting in China, information disclosure comes top, with 21% of the vote. This is followed by the need for integrity with 11% seeing a need for change. Transparency remains a big concern for investors with many wanting greater transparency in companies' business activities.

This year, the results have been split between three separate events: the IR Magazine China Awards (November 1), the IR Magazine Hong Kong and Taiwan Awards (Hong Kong, November 3), and the IR Magazine South East Asia Awards (Singapore, November 8). The research encapsulates industry changes, reviews investors' requirements and investigates contemporary developments affecting the IR profession.

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