The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) was incorporated on November 26, 1990 and opened its doors for trading less than a month later on December 19. In 27 years of rapid growth, SSE has evolved into a market operator in four categories of securities products, namely, stocks, bonds, investment funds and derivatives. As of the end of 2016, 1,182 companies boasting total market capital of RMB28.5 trillion were listed on SSE. In 2016, the latest period with published statistics, SSE recorded a cumulative trading turnover of RMB50.2 trillion, which averaged RMB205.6 billion on a daily basis. In the same year, SSE 1) helped public companies raise capital of RMB805.6 billion via sale of equities; 2) listed 8,077 bonds with an outstanding amount of RMB6.2 trillion and a transaction volume of RMB224.7 trillion in the secondary market; 3) recorded a cumulative turnover of more than RMB8.9 trillion for the 137 funds listed; and 4) reported a cumulative premium value of RMB 43.19 billion of derivatives traded. And reported a cumulative client account of 224.85 million.

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) was launched on December 1, 1990. It boasts a comprehensive system as a market operator with a main board, a board for small to medium-sized companies and a board for growth-oriented enterprises. The main board caters to blue chips; the SME Board serves smaller businesses by sector; ChiNext provides a fund-raising platform for companies focusing on innovation or those in a growth phase. As of December 31, 2016, 1,840 companies with a total market capital of RMB22.31 trillion were listed on SZSE with 478 on the main board, 822 on the SME Board and 570 on ChiNext. For the same period, SZSE reported a cumulative trading turnover of RMB77.6 trillion and raised RMB734.4 billion with initial public offerings accounting for RMB47.9 billion while refinancing, RMB686.5 billion.

In November, 2014, Shanghai Hong Kong Stock Connect was launched. About two years later in December 2016, the Shenzhen Hong Kong Connect also kicked off. Now Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese investors can utilize technical connectivity to trade eligible securities across the border through their local brokerages.