MOSCOW, September 5 (RIA Novosti) - Overseas investors will get an opportunity to buy Shanghai-listed shares via Hong Kong’s stock exchange beginning October, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"It is a big step forward," the newspaper quoted Miguel Canizares, vice president of equity operations at Fidelity Investments, as saying. "This is not going to be an overnight change. It's going to be a gradual evolution of the market," the WSJ reported Simon Male, director of Asian equity sales at brokerage Auerbach Grayson & Co.
The rule change that implies the opening of the Chinese stock market to outsiders corresponds to the recent campaign aimed at liberalizing the yuan and boosting China’s financial clout. Ahead of the change, a number of investors have poured money into funds that track so-called A-shares – yuan-denominated shares in the mainland. As a result, the Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks A-shares, is up 12 percent since early June.
The move will increase the flow of cash from a wider pool of investors, thus breathing new life into the market that has lost more than 60 percent of its value since 2007 and witnessed a slower economic growth and a rise in debt in recent years.
Currently, the only way to invest in China is by buying a limited pool of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong or applying for a special license to make purchases on the mainland. Moreover, there is a quota on buying. Only 1.5 percent of China's mainland stock market is owned by foreigners, according to Deutsche Bank, compared with 30 percent in developing economies such as Brazil and South Korea. However, fast financial market liberalization may involve risks such as sudden inflows of cash and volatile price fluctuations.
