A stock scheme connecting the stock markets of Shenzhen and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) was officially launched on Monday.
An opening ceremony for the Shenzhen-HK Stock Connect was held at 9:00 at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEx).
The HKSAR's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and Chairman of the HKEx Chow Chung-kong struck a gong to mark the first transaction made under the scheme.
Leung delivered a speech at the opening ceremony on the significance of the mechanism for both mainland and Hong Kong.
"The Shenzhen-HK stock connect mechanism demonstrates dual advantages brought by the One Country, Two Systems policy. We have advantages both onshore and offshore, we are an international financial center in China, and a Chinese financial center in the world. Therefore, we can become a super-coordinator between the domestic and foreign financial markets, and help promoting the common development for the financial sectors both in the mainland and Hong Kong," said Leung.
The stock link offers Hong Kong and overseas investors 880 Shenzhen-listed stocks, meanwhile mainland investors can buy 417 HK-listed stocks under the scheme.
The scheme stipulated a daily quota of 13 billion yuan for overseas investors to trade Shenzhen-listed stocks and 10.5 billion yuan for mainland investors trading HK-listed stocks, however, it does not have a total limit compared with the Shanghai-HK stock connect launched two years ago.