(Yicai Global) Nov. 1 -- The Bond Connect program between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong logged the highest trading volume ever last month despite the mainland's one-week National Day holiday. 

The 3,080 tickets led to a turnover of CNY347.9 billion (USD49.4 billion) in October, Chinese website Financial News reported, citing data from the cross-bourse program. Chinese mainland markets were closed from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7.

The same month also bagged the highest one-day turnover on Oct. 21 when the figure reached CNY30.3 billion.

In 2017, China launched the bond connect program that allows offshore investors to access the mainland's interbank bond market. Since then, trading volumes have grown on the back of widening popularity.

The Bond Connect scheme introduced 69 new foreign institutional investors last month to reach a total of almost 1,400 overseas institutions from 31 countries and regions around the world. That number was less than 250 at the end of 2017.

Last December, turnover reached CNY71.3 billion, with an average daily transaction volume of CNY3.6 billion.

Editor: Emmi Laine