Long-awaited London-Shanghai share listing project goes live

LONDON (Reuters) - Companies listed in Britain will be able to sell shares in China on Monday with the launch of a long-awaited London-Shanghai Stock Connect project that finance minister Philip Hammond called a chance to deepen “global connectivity”.

Under the Connect scheme, Shanghai-listed companies can raise new funds via London’s stock market while British companies can broaden their investor base by selling existing shares in Shanghai.

The project was intended to begin late last year with the December listing of Chinese brokerage Huatai, backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. But the listing was delayed at the last minute.