Alibaba Group Holding is set to join China’s Stock Connect programme, a long-heralded move that will enable some 200 million mainland-based investors to invest in the US$400 billion e-commerce group.
The company’s Hong Kong-listed shares will be added to the southbound channel of the cross-border investment scheme from Tuesday, according to separate statements by the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges on Monday.
The e-commerce leader, based in Hangzhou in eastern Zhejiang province, will join top Chinese tech peers including Tencent Holdings, Meituan and smartphone maker Xiaomi in the programme, where their shares are already accessible to onshore traders through the cross-border investment links.
The addition could attract as much as US$12 billion of onshore funds to the stock within six months, according to a forecast by Morgan Stanley. That is a major tonic for the stock and the broader market, given Alibaba’s 8.1 per cent…
