Launch of Shanghai-London Stock Connect program shows China's expanding opening up will not stop: spokesperson

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Tuesday said the launch of the Shanghai-London Stock Connect program shows that China's steps of deepening reform and expanding opening up will not stop.

[File photo: IC]

On Monday morning, Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond attended the launch ceremony of the connect program, under which Shanghai-listed companies can list on the London Stock Exchange via Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) issuance, while British companies can issue China Depositary Receipts (CDRs) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Against the backdrop that protectionism is on the rise, the launch of the mechanism "injects positive energy into the promotion of building an open world economy," said the spokesperson Lu Kang at a press briefing.

Lu said that financial cooperation has always been a highlight in bilateral pragmatic cooperation, adding that the launch of the mechanism is an important step to implement the results achieved by Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Britain in 2015, and is of the common interests of the two countries.