China to advance work on Shenzhen-HK Stock Connect

BEIJING - China will continue to advance the work on a stock connect plan between the Shenzhen and Hong Kong bourses, a securities regulator said Tuesday.

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 plan allows 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 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 plan, 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.