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Trading through China's Stock Connect programs reached record levels in the first half of 2026, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) said in a review published September 8, underscoring a broader pickup in cross-border capital flows between mainland China and Hong Kong markets.

The numbers

Average daily Northbound turnover — mainland-listed A-shares traded by international investors through Hong Kong — reached RMB 345.3 billion in the first half, more than double the year-earlier figure and already 62.6% above HKEX's total Northbound turnover for all of 2025.

Average daily Southbound turnover — Hong Kong-listed shares bought by mainland investors — came in at HK$123.1 billion, edging past the previous full-year record of HK$121.1 billion set in 2025, with six months still left in the year.

Why it matters

Stock Connect, launched in 2014 (Shanghai) and 2016 (Shenzhen), remains the primary regulated channel linking mainland Chinese exchanges to Hong Kong and, through it, to international capital. Northbound flows are widely watched as a proxy for foreign institutional appetite for mainland equities, since direct QFII/RQFII access remains more restrictive. Southbound flows serve a parallel function in reverse: they show how much mainland capital — increasingly including retail and insurance money — is flowing into Hong Kong-listed names, many of which are the offshore-listed shares of mainland tech and consumer companies not directly available on mainland exchanges.

A doubling of Northbound turnover alongside a Southbound record suggests the pickup isn't confined to one side of the channel — both foreign investors buying into mainland markets and mainland investors buying into Hong Kong-listed shares accelerated over the same period.

Context

HKEX had already flagged elevated Stock Connect activity in its mid-year results, released August 19, and this review largely restates and formalizes those figures rather than introducing new data. The turnover surge has also been noted by Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance and China Daily HK in coverage of HKEX's August results.

The review does not break down the drivers behind the increase — HKEX's release is a turnover summary, not an attribution of flows to specific catalysts — so any explanation for why flows accelerated (index inclusion effects, rate differentials, a broader reallocation toward China assets, sector-specific rallies) would need separate sourcing beyond what HKEX published today.

Source: HKEX, "2026 Stock Connect First-Half Review," September 8, 2026.

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