HKEX to continue optimizing connectivity schemes between mainland, Hong Kong capital markets

HONG KONG, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) — The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) said on Monday that it will continue to improve connectivity schemes between the capital markets of the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), including the Shanghai-Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connects, the Bond Connect program and Swap Connect.
Since the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, the first connectivity scheme, launched on Nov. 17, 2014, the schemes have provided domestic and foreign investors with convenient and efficient cross-border asset allocation channels and injected liquidity into the capital markets of the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, said the HKEX in a white paper.
They have also helped strengthen Hong Kong’s role as an offshore renminbi (RMB) business hub, said the document.
Over 3,300 securities are eligible for trading under the stock connects by the end of September, accounting for 90 percent of the total market capitalization of companies listed in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the white paper noted.
In the first three quarters of this year, the average daily turnover of northbound transactions of Shanghai-Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Hong Kong stock connects stood at 123.3 billion yuan (about 17.1 billion U.S. dollars), and that of southbound trading was 38.3 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 4.93 billion U.S. dollars). These figures represent increases of 21 times and 40 times, respectively, from the inaugural month in 2014, said the HKEX. ■