China will continue to advance the work on a stock connect scheme 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 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 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 U.S. dollars), 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.
