Sector brief: Investment
Yes/no Shaolin stock offering
December 23, 2009: The famous monks of China's Shaolin Temple were reported to be preparing a stock offering worth more than $100-million. This has since been denied.
The Shaolin temple, which is seen as an important site in Chinese Buddhism and one of the birthplaces of martial arts, has seen an increase in commercialism in the last few years. The news was that a joint venture between Dengfeng, the city where the ancient Buddhist temple is located, and the state-run China Travel Service (CTS) would be listed in either Hong Kong or Shanghai in 2011.
National Business reported that CTS (Dengfeng) Songshan Shaolin Cultural Tourist Company would have the temple's annual ticket sales as part of its revenues. However, a government source said that the temple's buildings would not be included in the new company.
Which was immediately followed by the BBC News reporting the the government body responsible for the 1,500-year-old temple's tourism said it was "absolutely untrue."
On the other hand China Travel confirmed the talks but said it was too soon to comment. The temple's abbot, Shi Yongxin, took over in the 1990s and has aggressively promoted the Shaolin brand, acting as executive producer in martial arts films based on the temple and upgrading temple facilities for tourists.
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