China's stock market capitalisation overtook Japan last year as the world's second-biggest, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.

A-share capitalisation in Shanghai and Shenzhen totalled 26.35 trillion yuan ($3,981 billion) at the end of 2010, up 8.7 percent from 2009, the newspaper reported, citing a research report from a private think tank.

China's A-share market was 12 percent, or $420 billion, bigger than Japan's stock market, the newspaper reported.

About 350 companies debuted on the mainland's A-share markets last year. They raised a total of 476.8 billion yuan through initial public offerings, making China the world biggest IPO market in 2009. ($1=6.618 Yuan)

China China Japan Japan