The April 2024 move under CSRC Chairman Wu Qing would widen cross-border access to Hong Kong-listed RMB-counter shares and property trusts, reinforcing Beijing’s push to deepen yuan-based investment channels.
China is preparing to broaden Stock Connect, the cross-border trading link between mainland markets and Hong Kong, to cover yuan-denominated Hong Kong stocks and real estate investment trusts. The plan, announced in April 2024 by the China Securities Regulatory Commission under Chairman Wu Qing, points to a wider effort to make Chinese assets easier for global investors to access while strengthening the yuan’s role in cross-border investing. The expansion builds on Hong Kong’s 2023 dual-counter trading scheme, which allows selected shares to trade in both Hong Kong dollars and yuan. Bringing those RMB-counter shares into Stock Connect would give overseas investors a simpler route to yuan-denominated equity exposure than more complex channels such as QFII (Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor, a foreign access scheme) or RQDII. For mainland investors, adding REITs (property-linked income vehicles) would open broader access to Hong Kong real estate assets. Northbound trading through Stock Connect reached a record average daily turnover of RMB 302.7 billion in February 2026, underscoring the program’s growing importance. No implementation date has been confirmed for the additions.