(Yicai Global) Oct. 21 -- Xiaomi's shares climbed 5 percent after a brokerage said the Hong Kong-listed smartphone maker could qualify to join the stock connect programs with mainland bourses when restrictions are eased later this month.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges came out with amended rules on Oct. 18 to permit the inclusion of Hong Kong-listed dual-class shares in the stock connect scheme from Oct. 28, potentially giving investors access to leading Chinese startups such as Xiaomi and Meituan Dianping.

CITIC Securities then issued a report on how Beijing-based Xiaomi, whose Class A shares carry 10 times more weight than its Class B, meets the requirements and is likely to start trading in the mainland as early as next month.

Xiaomi's shares [HKG:1810] ended today at HKD8.98 (USD1.15) each, after gaining as much as 6.8 percent earlier in the day. The closing price is still 47 percent below its initial public offering price of HKD17 in July 2018. Meituan Dianping [HKG:3690] closed 4.3 percent higher at HKD96.75 (USD12.33).

The new rules stipulate that companies eligible to join the stock connect programs must have gone public more than six months ago, had an average market capitalization of more than HKD20 billion (USD2.6 billion) over the past 183 trading days, and had total turnover of over HKD6 billion during the same period.

Editor: Emmi Laine