Happy Birthday Shanghai Stock Exchange
As the Shanghai Stock Exchange celebrates its 25th anniversary, China’s benchmark stock index fell for the first time in three days. 2015 has been an eventful one for the exchange. The nation’s longest-ever bull market ended on June 29. It lasted 935 days. What followed was one of China’s shortest-ever bear markets, which ended on Nov.5 after 75 days. Since the Shanghai Composite Index rose to a seven-year high on June 12, it has fallen 29 percent. That’s the equivalent of $1.7 trillion of value.
Historical Timeline
Nov. 26, 1990 – The start of the modern Shanghai Exchange.
Dec. 1, 1990 – Shenzen Stock Exchange established. Average daily turnover reached 498 billion yuan in 2015.
Nov. 8, 2002 – The China Securities Regulatory Commission and the People’s Bank of China released joint rules on the qualified foreign institutional investor, or QFII, program, allowing overseas investors to buy yuan-denominated A shares for the first time.
July. 9, 2003 – UBS Group AG became the first QFII to buy A shares, purchasing stakes in four companies, including Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. and Shanghai International Port (Group) Co.
Oct. 16, 2007 – The Shanghai Composite closed at a record high of 6,092.06 after surging five-fold over two years.
Nov. 4, 2008 – During the financial crisis The Shanghai Composite tumbled as much as 72 percent from its peak.
Oct. 30, 2009 – The first batch of 28 companies started trading in Shenzhen’s ChiNext board, which was created to facilitate fundraising by smaller companies in fledgling industries. The number of the companies trading on the board has grown to 484.
Mar. 31, 2010 – The Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges started trials of margin trading and short selling. Margin debt in Shanghai has more than tripled over the past two years.
Apr. 16, 2010 – China started trading index futures linked to the CSI 300 Index. Ranked by the World Federation of Exchanges as the most active market for index futures as recently as July this year, trading has since slumped as China curbed bearish bets in an attempt to stop a $5 trillion rout earlier this year.
Aug. 11, 2011 – Then-Vice Premier Li Keqiang said China would allow offshore yuan in Hong Kong to be invested in the nation’s stocks and bonds under a system known as RQFII.
Nov. 17, 2014 – The Shanghai-Hong Kong stock trading link made its debut, giving foreign investors unprecedented access to mainland shares. The aggregate quota for purchases of domestic stocks is set at 300 billion yuan.
Nov. 28, 2014 – China overtook Japan as the world’s second-largest stock market.
June 18, 2015 – Margin financing, the catalyst for a first-half boom in share prices, surged to a record 2.27 trillion yuan. After falling by more than half during a mid-year rout, it has since stabilized at around 1.2 trillion yuan.
June 29, 2015 – China’s longest-ever bull market ended at 935 days.
Feb. 9, 2015 – The Shanghai exchange started trading options on the China 50 ETF, the first new equity derivatives allowed by regulators since index futures were introduced five years ago.
July 4, 2015 – Twenty-one brokerages spent at least 120 billion yuan buying exchange-traded funds linked to blue-chip stocks to support the stock market, while the government imposed a freeze on initial public offerings.
Nov. 5, 2015 – China’s bear market ended at 75 days, one of the shortest in recent history. A day later, the government ends the moratorium on IPO sales.
Source: Bloomberg
