(Yicai Global) July 10 -- Lord Mayor of the City of London Peter Estlin and London Stock Exchange Chief Executive Nikhil Rathi will visit China this week in order to strengthen ties between the British and Chinese capital markets.

The pair will travel to Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou in the east of China from July 12 to July 13 and attend several events to meet government and industry partners, the City of London told Yicai Global yesterday. The occasions include two roundtables on capital market tie-ups and London's position as a hub for initial public offerings and bond listings after the launch of the Shanghai-London Stock Connect last month.

The "hugely ambitious" stock connect initiative "allows global investors to benefit further from China's growth through London, while UK listed companies can access Chinese investors directly," Estlin said. "My visit to Shanghai will look at how we can ensure this innovative mechanism is a success, so that we can further link our capital markets for the benefit of both countries, and indeed the world."

In Suzhou, Estlin and Rathi, also the LSE Group's international development head, will attend a fintech forum underscored by speeches from leaders at Fosun Group and Ant Financial Services Group, the payments affiliate of e-commerce titan Alibaba.

Editors: Xu Wei, James Boynton