This Day, That Year

70 years on

On May 21, 1992, the Shanghai Stock Exchange decided to fully deregulate stock prices for free competitive bidding. The day is considered to be one of the most important ever for the Chinese stock market.

Stock prices at the time were solely driven by the market, which caused them to jump 570 percent in just three days. An item from Aug 24, 1992, in China Daily showed investors in Beijing buying bonds to help build Shanghai’s Pudong construction and development zone.

On Nov 16, 2001, stamp duties on both A share and B share trading were reduced to 0.2 percent. The reduction was meant to encourage investors to trade stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

In 2007, the Chinese market developed rapidly. Trading volume on the Shanghai Stock Exchange reached a new high, with $271 billion worth of shares traded and nearly 21 billion shares changing hands on May 30 that year.

The composite index hit its all-time high of 6,124.04 points on Oct 16, 2007.

The Shanghai exchange was allowed to offer short-selling and margin trading starting in 2010 for deepening and diversifying investor participation.

In 2014, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program was launched, which allowed trading of Hong Kong-listed companies and Shanghai-listed A shares.

As the first initiative of its kind, the program created a brand-new model and has achieved great success in the country’s financial innovation.

According to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, by Nov 16, the ShanghaiHong Kong Stock Connect had registered a total turnover of 10.31 trillion yuan ($1.49 trillion) in its four years of operation.

First proposed in 2015, the Shanghai-London Stock Connect has been proceeding.

Under the plan, Chinese companies listed in the A-share market will be able to raise money in London, while British companies can be purchased by Chinese investors, but they cannot raise fresh funds.