Buyers snap up Chinese stock as new link opens

Shanghai - International buyers seized the chance to invest in mainland Chinese stocks when a link between stock exchanges in Shanghai and Hong Kong launched on Monday.

The Shanghai Hong Kong Stock Connect programme opened up the highly protected Chinese stock market to more foreign investment, allowing investors in Hong Kong and Shanghai to trade each others' listed shares.

The daily quota of 13 billion yuan (about $2.1bn) that can be invested in Hong Kong on mainland stocks was reached by 2pm (06:00 GMT).

But the volume of trade flowing from Shanghai to Hong Kong was much lower. Only 1.5 billion yuan of the daily quota of 10.5 billion yuan was used by Monday afternoon.

Analysts said enthusiasm for Shanghai stocks is not surprising since the mainland market had previously been closed to most outside investors.

"We can see that the Hong Kong market is more interested in the Shanghai market, and Hong Kong will be an important centre for the internationalization of the renminbi," independent financial analyst Ye Tan told dpa.

China is under pressure to ease capital controls and encourage outward investment to deal with serious financial imbalances, where huge inflows of capital have fuelled asset price inflation.

"It is hard to say that the door of capital has opened. Rather, a crack in the door has opened," Ye said.

Previous cross-border investment schemes were restricted to specific firms that must apply for a licence to participate.

China's Ministry of Finance said Friday it will waive a capital-gains tax for foreigners buying mainland Chinese stocks.

Mainland Chinese investors buying Hong Kong shares will also be exempt from paying income tax for three years, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

China wants to build Shanghai as a global financial centre and has developed a free-trade zone in the port city. Hong Kong, a financial hub and semi-autonomous special administrative region, has long acted as a gateway to doing business in China.

Analysts expect the cooperation could be extended in the future to the stock market in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.