THE FIRST Chinese company was admitted to London's Alternative In-vestment Market on Friday under the chairmanship of Draethen resident Peter Dellar.

The Chinese economy is industrialising fast and within a single generation could eclipse the economic might of Europe and the United States.

China Wonder placed half a million new ordinary shares at a price of 24p.

That took the shares in circulation to 10.5 million and values the company at £2.52 million based on the offer price.

However, the market welcomed the placing and by the end of the day the shares had reached the 40p mark.

Mr Dellar said: "This is a landmark flotation, being the first domestic Chinese company to seek admission to AIM.

"Not only will the company benefit in terms of its credibility and profile but also its continuing development will be assisted by the access to capital to enable selective acquisitions.

"It also enables UK invest-ors to access the attractive growth rates being experienced by non-state owned companies in the Chinese domestic economy."

Mr Dellar is a chartered accountant and over the last nine years has been managing director of City and Suburban Ltd, a vehicle leasing company. Prior to that he was chief accountant at Bovis Property, a division of Bovis plc.

He has served on the boards of several public companies including Charles Baynes where he was chairman and chief executive and Astra.

China Wonder is the name of the holding company for Jin-zhou Wonder Packing Machine Company (WP), a manufacturer and distributor of packaging machinery to the Chinese pharmaceutical market. Established in 1998, WP is based in Jinzhou, in the north east of China.

The directors believe it's one of the five largest companies in the domestic pharmaceutical packaging machinery sector.

The Chinese pharmaceutical market grew by more than 19 per cent between 2002 and 2003, contributing to strong growth at WP.

The company also supplies its machines to one of China's leading producers of confectionery and has exported a limited number of machines to Hungary, Indonesia, Russia and Yemen.

The firm has 110 full-time employees and manufactures four types of packaging machines: a bubble cap packer, a bag capping machine, a film heating shrinkage packer and a labeller.

Mr Dellar believes that sales of WP's machines are unlikely to be threatened by western competition because imported machines are a lot more expensive and only offer a marginal improvement in quality.

Over the last three years WP's sales have risen from £0.85 million to £1.39 million. Pre-tax profits have risen from £134,000 to £254,000.

The progress was maintained despite a move to a new, larger factory this time last year.

John Wakefield, corporate finance director for China Wonder's advisors Rowan Dartington, said: "We're delighted to have been instrumental in the flotation of the first Chinese business on AIM as China Wonder's nominated adviser."

Mr Dellar will be supported by executive deputy chairman

Mark Chapman, who has extensive experience of investing in the Far East over the last 15 years. It was Mr Chapman who introduced Mr Dellar to the company last year.

The company's strategy for growth is to remain focused on sales on the Chinese pharmaceutical market while looking for new opportunities in the foodstuffs sector. It will also try to break into new markets abroad and look for suitable acquisitions.