By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-11-17 11:26:13 | Updated at 2024-11-17 13:27:36
2 hours ago
The average daily turnover of a scheme allowing mainland Chinese to buy Hong Kong stocks has risen by as much as 40 times since the cross-border investment programme was launched 10 years ago, the finance minister has said as he pledged to further its development.
Reviewing the Stock Connect scheme, which marked its 10th anniversary on Sunday, Paul Chan Mo-po listed three areas where the programme could be further developed.
“In addition to connecting the traditional European and US markets, we should also connect with emerging markets with large populations and rapid economic and income growth to meet the diversified asset allocation needs of international and mainland investors,” Chan wrote in his Sunday blog.
“In this regard, Hong Kong is working hard to strengthen its links with the Global South markets, including attracting more high quality enterprises to be listed in Hong Kong and launching more cross-border investment products.”
The Stock Connect initially allowed for trading between the stock exchanges of Hong Kong and Shanghai, and it was expanded to include Shenzhen two years later. A connect scheme for the bond market was launched in 2017.
In 2022, the programme was further expanded to include eligible exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Over the past 10 years, the number of eligible stocks has increased from just over 800 during the initial days to more than 3,300 under the current two programmes, accounting for about 90 per cent of the total market capitalisation of listed companies in the three markets, according to Chan.
