Market operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) has entered into talks with China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges about a potential joint venture to develop index and equity derivative products.
HKEx, which operates Hong Kong's stock and derivatives markets, emphasised that there was “no binding agreement” between the exchanges.
Although they are increasingly competitors for listing Chinese companies, HKEx, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange have already collaborated on a number of fronts.
In June 1993, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Shanghai Securities Exchange, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Hong Kong regulator the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange signed a memorandum of regulatory co-operation in Beijing.
The three bourses also collaborated to create the China Stock Markets website in 2001, which offers investors data from all three markets, including price data on stocks dual listed in Hong Kong and China and company announcements.
As part of its three-year strategic plan initiated in March 2010, HKEx targeted future growth opportunities from mainland China in part facilitated by the internationalisation of the Chinese renminbi.