China halts Shanghai-London stock link on Britain’s political stance on Hong Kong protests

Trouble with scheme comes at a bad time for Britain, which is keen to build ties with non-EU countries as it prepares to leave the bloc, and the LSE

Sources, who include public officials and people working on potential Shanghai-London deals, all said that politics was behind the suspension

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Trouble with the scheme comes at a bad time for the LSE, which was set for its worst year in terms of new listings in a decade as of December 4. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:32pm, 2 Jan 2020Updated: 10:44pm, 2 Jan 2020

China has temporarily blocked planned cross-border listings between the Shanghai and London stock exchanges because of political tensions with Britain, five sources told Reuters.

Suspending the Shanghai-London Stock Connect scheme casts a shadow over the future of a project meant to build ties between Britain and China, help Chinese companies expand their investor base and give mainland Chinese investors access to UK-listed companies.

The Stock Connect scheme is meant to build ties between Britain and China, help Chinese companies expand their investor base and give mainland Chinese investors access to UK-listed companies. Photo: AP

The sources, who include public officials and people working on potential Shanghai-London deals, all said that politics was behind the suspension.

Two of them highlighted Britain’s stance on the Hong Kong protests and one pointed to remarks over the detention of a now former staff member at its consulate in Hong Kong.

All five sources have been involved in talks with Chinese officials and spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak about the matter publicly.