(Yicai Global) Nov. 18 -- Foreign ownership of equities traded in the Chinese mainland has soared over the six years since the stock connect programs linking exchanges in the mainland and Hong Kong debuted.

Foreign investors held CNY2.1 trillion (USD320.3 billion) of mainland stocks as of Nov. 10, a more than 23-fold increase from Dec. 31, 2014, about a month after the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program was launched, Xinhua News Agency reported today, citing a report from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The two schemes that link markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen with Hong Kong’s bourse enable investors to access each other's markets. The Shanghai program was launched on Nov. 17, 2014, while its Shenzhen counterpart opened on Dec. 5, 2016.

Stock appetite has been even keener on the other side. Mainland-based investors owned Hong Kong-listed stocks worth HKD1.88 trillion (USD242.5 billion) as of Nov. 10, an increase of more than 142 times since December 2014.

Single-day turnover has reached new highs this year. Northbound flows jumped to a six-year high of CNY191.2 billion (USD29.2 billion) on July 7. Southbound trade marked a record HKD60.2 billion (USD7.8 billion) on June 6.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange will continue to cooperate with its mainland partners and regulators to optimize the interconnection mechanism and further expand the scope of investment to bring more opportunities to Hong Kong and mainland markets while connecting China with the world, it said in the report.

Editor: Emmi Laine