The Chinese national flag, the flag of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the flag of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited fly on the Exchange Square in Hong Kong on Nov 17. The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect marks one year anniversary on Nov 17 since it was officially launched in 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]
BEIJING — China will continue to advance the work on a stock connect scheme between the Shenzhen and Hong Kong bourses, a securities regulator said on Nov 17.
Authorities will expand the quota of shares that can be traded under a similar stock connect program that already exists between Shanghai and Hong Kong, according to a speech by Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), published on the CSRC website.
The stock connect schemes allow investors to trade on both bourses under a quota and are seen as moves toward a more open capital market in the Chinese mainland.
More efforts will be made to further integrate the mainland and Hong Kong capital markets, Fang was quoted as telling a seminar held in Shanghai that marked the first anniversary of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which was launched last November.
As of Nov 13 this year, transactions under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect reached 2.12 trillion yuan ($332.4 billion), with 1.53 trillion yuan of the total made by Hong Kong-based investors on Shanghai-listed shares, Fang said in the speech.
Through the scheme, Hong Kong-based investors are able to buy shares in 568 Shanghai-listed companies while buyers from the mainland have access to 266 Hong Kong-listed stocks.
The program has been operating steadily and will be improved in future, while cross-border regulation and law enforcement will be strengthened, Fang said.
