Chinese stock exchanges seek public feedback on allowing mainland investors to buy shares in Hong Kong’s dual-class structured companies
- They will collect public feedback on the idea of including companies with weighted-voting rights in the stock connect programmes
- The move would allow mainland investors to trade shares in the likes of smartphone giant Xiaomi and online food-delivery operator Meituan
Xiaomi, Meituan Dianping and other Hong Kong-listed companies with dual-class share structures are getting a step closer to being accessible to mainland Chinese traders.
The move would allow mainland investors to trade shares in the likes of smartphone giant Xiaomi and online food-delivery operator Meituan through the southbound channel of the exchange links with Hong Kong. The terms of the plan was agreed earlier between the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges and the Hong Kong bourse, before the public consultation phase started.
The Hong Kong exchange revised its listing rules in April last year, to allow companies in which founders and key managers enjoy stronger voting rights than other shareholders to list in the city for the first time. Among them were Xiaomi and Meituan, which raised a combined HK$75.75 billion (US$9.68 billion) from their initial public offerings.
Still, the city’s bourse is facing increasing competition from its mainland counterparts in wooing the listings of fast-growing companies from China. The Shanghai exchange launched the Science and Technology Innovation Board, or Star Market, last month, allowing unprofitable technology companies to go public for the first time. Twenty-five companies trade on the board now.