(Bloomberg) -- U.K.-listed companies will be able to sell shares in China starting Monday as a new London-Shanghai stock link opens for business. It will be the first time foreign companies are able to list in mainland China, the U.K. government said in a statement.
“Stock Connect is a ground-breaking initiative, which will deepen our global connectivity as we look outwards to new opportunities in Asia,” U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will say as he launches the initiative’s first day of trading at the London Stock Exchange.
Monday’s opening will give investors in London the opportunity to trade global depositary receipts for Huatai, the technology-enabled securities group in China.
The London-Shanghai Stock Connect has taken four years to prepare. It’s beginning at a sensitive time, with Britain’s government in turmoil after Prime Minister Theresa May resigned over her failure to complete the U.K.’s divorce from the European Union.
A contest is under way to elect her successor as leader of the U.K.’s ruling Conservative Party, and the outcome of that race is set to have a profound impact on the direction of British trade policy with the EU and the rest of the world.
Deepening trade links with Asia is a key U.K. goal as it leaves the EU, and Hammond will celebrate the Stock Connect launch when he welcomes Vice Premier Hu Chunhua and a delegation from the Chinese government to London for talks on Monday.
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