Beijing launches China-Japan stock connect scheme, showcases it as a move to defy rising protectionism
- Four exchange traded funds each from China and Japan given access to shares on their respective bourses
China on Tuesday accelerated the liberalisation of its capital markets, launching yet another stock connect scheme linking Shanghai and Tokyo stock exchanges and in the process took a swipe at the US for its trade protectionism.
Under the China-Japan ETF Connectivity scheme, investors will be allowed to buy into exchange-traded funds to participate in the trading of stocks listed in their respective markets.
“It is of great significance for China and Japan, the world’s second- and third-largest economies to form a tie-up on the capital markets at a time when trade protectionism is on the rise,” Fang Xinghai, a vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said during the opening ceremony at the Shanghai exchange via video conferencing, in a thinly veiled criticism of the US administration amid the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies. “It shows that China has not backed down on its plan to open up the capital market. Instead, we will speed up the process.”
Four funds worth a combined 1.5 billion yuan (US$218.3 million) issued by China Asset Management, China Southern Fund Management, E Fund Management and Hua An Fund Management that track the Nikkei 225 Index and the Topix Stock Price Index started trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
At the same time, four ETFs that track blue-chip indicators such as the SSE180 and CSI500 in Shanghai were launched by Asset Management One, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management, Nikko Asset Management and Nomura Asset Management.
