China considers Hong Kong-Shenzhen stock link

BEIJING - In the wake of two breakthrough pilot projects announced in 2014 – the HK-Shanghai stock connection and an additional pilot free trade zone (FTZ) in Guangdong province – regulators are considering a stock trading link programme that would allow investors from Hong Kong and Shenzhen to buy and sell shares on each city’s bourse.

During a visit to Nansha New Area (an area of the newly proposed Guangdong FTZ), Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that the first step in building the FTZ is to deepen integration with the two special administrative regions [of Hong Kong and Macau], “where the two sides can well complement each other, especially in the trade of services”.

Guangdong’s Governor, Zhu Xiaodan, has proposed issuing a list of areas off-limits to foreign investors, just as the Shanghai FTZ currently does. He will also issue a shorter list with fewer restrictions to investors from Hong Kong and Macau. The proposed Guangdong FTZ will be modelled after the Shanghai pilot FTZ. www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).