Type Stock exchange Founded 26 November 1990 No. of listings 1041 (May 2015) | Location Shanghai, China Currency RMB | |
 | ||
Key people Geng Liang (Chairman)
Zhang Yujun (President) | ||
The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE; Chinese: 上海证券交易所; pinyin: Shànghǎi zhèngquàn jiāoyì suǒ), is a stock exchange that is based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the two stock exchanges operating independently in the People's Republic of China, the other being the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Shanghai Stock Exchange is the world's 5th largest stock market by market capitalization at US$3.5 trillion as of February 2016, and 2nd largest in East Asia and Asia. Unlike the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is still not entirely open to foreign investors due to tight capital account controls exercised by the Chinese mainland authorities and often manipulated by the decisions of the Central Government.
Contents
- History
- Chronology
- Structure
- Market Performance
- Indices
- SSEs Top 10 Largest Stocks
- Listing Requirements
- Building
- References
The current exchange was re-established on November 26, 1990 after a 41-year hiatus and was in operation on December 19 of the same year. It is a non-profit organization directly administered by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
The Shanghai Clearing House provides security for financial market participants, and efficient clearing services development purposes, but also conductive to international peers inter-agency communication and cooperation. It provides central counterparty clearing of foreign currency in the interbank market, including clearing, settlement, margin management, collateral management, information services, consulting services, and related management department under other business.
History
The formation of the International Settlement (foreign concession areas) in Shanghai was the result of the Treaty of Nanking of 1842 (which ended the First Opium War) and subsequent agreements between the Chinese and foreign governments. The Shanghai International Settlement was crucial to the development of foreign trade in China and to the development of the foreign community in Shanghai. The market for securities trading in Shanghai began in the late 1860s. The first shares registrar appeared in June 1866. By then, Shanghai's International Settlement had developed the conditions conducive to the emergence of a share market: several banks, a legal framework for joint-stock companies, and an interest in diversification among the established trading houses (although the trading houses themselves remained partnerships).
In 1891 during the boom in mining shares, foreign businessmen founded the "Shanghai Sharebrokers' Association" headquartered in Shanghai as China's first stock exchange. In 1904 the Association applied for registration in Hong Kong under the provision of the Companies ordinance and was renamed as the "Shanghai Stock Exchange". The supply of securities came primarily from local companies. In the early days, banks dominated private shares but, by 1880, only the Hong Kong and Shanghai local banks remained.
Later in 1920 and 1921, "Shanghai Securities & Commodities Exchange" and "Shanghai Chinese Merchant Exchange" started operation respectively. An amalgamation eventually took place in 1929, and the combined markets operated thereafter as the "Shanghai Stock Exchange". Shipping, insurance, and docks persisted to 1940 but were overshadowed by industrial shares after the Treaty of Shimonoseki of 1895, which permitted Japan, and by extension other nations which had treaties with China, to establish factories in Shanghai and other treaty ports. Rubber plantations became the staple of stock trading beginning in the second decade of the 20th century.
By the 1930s, Shanghai had emerged as the financial center of the Far East, where both Chinese and foreign investors could trade stocks, debentures, government bonds, and futures. The operation of Shanghai Stock Exchange came to an abrupt halt after Japanese troops occupied the Shanghai International Settlement on December 8, 1941. In 1946, Shanghai Stock Exchange resumed its operations before closing again 3 years later in 1949, after the Communist revolution took place.
After the Cultural Revolution ended and Deng Xiaoping rose to power, China was re-opened to the outside world in 1978. During the 1980s, China's securities market evolved in tandem with the country's economic reform and opening up and the development of socialist market economy. On 26 November 1990, Shanghai Stock Exchange was re-established and operations began a few weeks later on 19 December.
Chronology
Structure
The securities listed at the SSE include the three main categories of stocks, bonds, and funds. Bonds traded on SSE include treasury bonds (T-bond), corporate bonds, and convertible corporate bonds. SSE T-bond market is the most active of its kind in China. There are two types of stocks being issued in the Shanghai Stock Exchange: "A" shares and "B" shares. A shares are priced in the local renminbi yuan currency, while B shares are quoted in U.S. dollars. Initially, trading in A shares are restricted to domestic investors only while B shares are available to both domestic (since 2001) and foreign investors. However, after reforms were implemented in December 2002, foreign investors are now allowed (with limitations) to trade in A shares under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program which was officially launched in 2003. Currently, a total of 98 foreign institutional investors have been approved to buy and sell A shares under the QFII program. Quotas under the QFII program are currently US$30 billion. There has been a plan to eventually merge the two types of shares in the future.
The SSE is open for trading every Monday to Friday. The morning session begins with centralized competitive pricing from 09:15 to 09:25, and continues with consecutive bidding from 09:30 to 11:30. This is followed by the afternoon consecutive bidding session, which starts from 13:00 to 15:00. The market is closed on Saturday and Sunday and other holidays announced by the SSE.
Market Performance
As of February 2008, 861 companies were listed on the SSE and the total market capitalization of SSE reached RMB 23,340.9 billion (US$3,241.8 billion; US$1 = RMB 6.82).
Indices
The SSE Composite (also known as Shanghai Composite) Index is the most commonly used indicator to reflect SSE's market performance. Constituents for the SSE Composite Index are all listed stocks (A shares and B shares) at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The Base Day for the SSE Composite Index is December 19, 1990. The Base Period is the total market capitalization of all stocks of that day. The Base Value is 100. The index was launched on July 15, 1991. At the end of 2006, the index reaches 2,675.47. Other important indexes used in the Shanghai Stock Exchanges include the SSE 50 Index and SSE 180 Index.
SSE's Top 10 Largest Stocks
Source: MarketCapitalizations.com (market values in RMB/Chinese Yuan). Data arranged by market value. Updated on Jan 1st 2015
- PetroChina (1,750.3 billion)
- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1,289.1 billion)
- Agricultural Bank of China (1,090.9 billion)
- Bank of China (813.0 billion)
- China Life (711.1 billion)
- China Petroleum & Chemical (592.4 billion)
- Ping An Insurance (357.5 billion)
- China Merchants Bank (342.2 billion)
- China Shenhua Energy Company (334.6 billion)
- Citic Securities (333.5 billion)
Listing Requirements
According to the regulations of Securities Law of the People’s Republic of China and Company Law of the People’s Republic of China, limited companies applying for the listing of shares must meet the following criteria:
Other conditions stipulated by the State Council.
The conditions for applications for the listing of shares by limited companies involved in high and new technology are set out separately by the State Council.
Building
The SSE is housed at the Shanghai Securities Exchange Building since 1997.