With China stock exchanges occupying 3 places amongst the world's top 8 it is no wonder the world is noticing China's economic might.
Stop to consider for a moment that the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen are each home to stock exchanges with market caps rivalling Europe's biggest.
In addition to these 2 Mainland China stock exchanges, this article also covers the Chinese stock exchanges operating in Hong Kong and Taipei.
Mainland China Stock Exchanges
There are two stock exchanges in mainland China but neither are based in the capital of China, Beijing.
Wisely keeping business and politics separate, these stock exchanges are located in two of China's other Tier 1 cities - the metroploises of Shanghai & Shenzhen.
Here are some details on each:
Shanghai Stock Exchange
Located among Shanghai's famous skyscrapers in the district of Pudong, as shown in the photo above, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is China's largest stock exchange and the 4th largest in the world overall.
- Symbol: SSE
- Name in Chinese: 上海证券交易所
- Year Opened: 1990
- Number of Companies Listed: 1,446 (Nov 2018)
- Market Capitalization: USD 4.39 Trillion (Nov 2018)
- Global Rank: 4 (Nov 2018)
- Official Website: www.sse.com.cn
- Address: 528 Pudong South Road, Shanghai, China
- Main Indices:
- Shanghai Composite - an index of all shares traded at Shanghai Stock Exchange
- Shanghai 50 - an index of the top 50 companies
Shenzhen Stock Exchange
When the Shenzhen Stock Exchange opened in 1991 Shenzhen was a relatively small city of 2 million inhabitants. Since then the city's population has grown to more than 12 million and is home to many famous Chinese tech companies including Tencent and Huawei.
- Symbol: SZSE
- Name in Chinese: 深圳证券交易所
- Year Opened: 1991
- Number of Companies Listed: 2,129 (Nov 2018)
- Market Capitalization: USD 2.69 Trillion (Nov 2018)
- Global Rank: 8 (Nov 2018)
- Official Website: www.szse.cn
- Address: 2012 Shennan Avenue, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
- Main Indices:
- Shenzhen Composite - an index of all shares traded at Shenzhen Stock Exchange
Other Chinese Stock Exchanges
In addition to the two stock exchanges in Mainland China, there are two other Chinese cities which have well established and successful stock exchanges.
These are located in Hong Kong and in the capital city of Taiwan, Taipei.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Once home to 4 separate stock exchanges, a unified Hong Kong stock exchange was launched in 1986. Approximately half of the companies listed in Hong Kong are actually Mainland China companies, including an increasing number of tech companies.
- Symbol: SEHK
- Name in Chinese: 香港交易所
- Year Opened: 1986
- Number of Companies Listed: 1,902 (Nov 2018)
- Market Capitalization: USD 4.11 Trillion (Nov 2018)
- Global Rank: 7 (Nov 2018)
- Official Website: www.hkex.com.hk
- Address: 8/F, Two Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place, Central, Hong Kong
- Main Indices:
- Hang Seng - a weighted index based on 50 of the largest companies listed in Hong Kong
Taiwan Stock Exchange
Situated in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, the Taiwan Stock Exchange operates from what used to be the world's tallest building - the Taipei 101. Although it is the smallest of the Chinese stock exchanges, their currently ranking of 17th worldwide is actually quite impressive for an island of just 24 million residents.
- Symbol: TWSE
- Name in Chinese: 臺灣證券交易所
- Year Opened: 1961
- Number of Companies Listed: 915 (Nov 2018)
- Market Capitalization: USD 1.08 Trillion (Nov 2018)
- Global Rank: 17 (Nov 2018)
- Official Website: www.twse.com.tw
- Address: No.7, Sec.5, Xinyi Road, Taipei, Taiwan
- Main Indices:
- TAIEX - a weighted index of all shares traded at the Taiwan Stock Exchange
- Taiwan 50 - a weighted index based on 50 of the largest companies
Chinese Stock Exchanges Mapped
The below map shows the relative position of each of the stock exchanges covered in this article.
The 2 blue markers represent the Mainland China stock exchanges of Shanghai and Shenzhen. The red marker identifies Hong Kong and the green marker Taipei.
China Stock Exchanges Data
If you are looking for data on China stock exchanges, we found the following websites useful whilst researching this article:
- List of Stock Exchanges - StockMarketClock.com
- Hong Kong and Mainland Market Highlights - HKEX
- Asian Pacific Stocks - Bloomberg
The data used in this article was taken from the above websites in November 2018.
Mainland China's Other National Trading Market
Although not technically a stock exchange it would be remiss of us to not mention the market that is commonly referred to as Mainland China's "new third board" - the "National Equities Exchange and Quotations".
The purpose of this market was succinctly explained in this Xinhua article as follows:
The exchange was launched in early 2013 to supplement the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges to serve small and medium-sized enterprises. It is seen as an easier financing channel for small businesses, with low costs and simple listing procedures.
National Equities Exchange and Quotations (Beijing)
Located in Beijing, the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) is an over-the-counter (OTC) trading market for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs)
- Name in Chinese: 全国中小企业股份转让系统
- Year Opened: 2013
- Number of Companies Listed: 11,630 (Dec 2017)
- Market Capitalization: USD 0.76 Trillion (Dec 2017)
- Official Website: www.neeq.com.cn
- Address: No. 26 Jinrong Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, China
- Main Indices:
- NEEQ Composite
