A LONG-AWAITED link between the Shenzhen stock market and neighboring Honk Kong goes live today, allowing foreign investors first-time access to some of the fastest growing technology firms in the world’s second-biggest economy.

    The link comes two years after regulators approved the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect program and extends China’s efforts to open up its vast capital markets even as it struggles to enforce curbs on speculative money that was blamed for triggering last summer’s stock market crash.

    The Shenzen opening, hobbled by delays of almost a year, will finally connect all of China’s stock markets, which with a combined market cap of more than US$5 trillion, serves up plenty of investment opportunities for foreigners and speculators.

    Analysts expect a relatively subdued start for the link.

    Pauline Dan, head of greater China equities at Pictet Asset Management Ltd. in Hong Kong that manages US$168 billion in assets as of end-September 2016, said investors will need time to “gauge and assess the opportunities in the Shenzhen market.”

    “However, the Shenzhen market has more smaller cap, technology companies that are not well covered and their disclosure level is lower than HK listed companies.”

    The pipeline will offer foreign investors 881 stocks in the Shenzhen’s US$3 trillion stock exchange and 417 counters on the Hong Kong side to Shenzhen-based investors.

    Aggregate quota limits were scrapped in August but there are daily limits of 13 billion yuan (US$1.89 billion) on the Shenzhen leg and 10.5 billion yuan on the Hong Kong leg, according to a stock exchange notification.

    The Shenzhen market has very distinctive features related to size, liquidity and private ownership which some investors are excited about. (SD-Agencies)