On June 18, at the 2025 Lujiazui Forum "Plenary Session Four: Deepening Cooperation and Development between Shanghai and Hong Kong as International Financial Centers," Fang Xinghai, former Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and Vice President of the China Finance Society, stated that foreign investment entering the A-share market is closely related to the launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect. In 2017, when A-shares were included in the MSCI index, international funds tracking that index began to invest in A-shares. However, without the launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, A-shares would not have been included in the MSCI index, as there is a requirement for inclusion: foreign investors must be able to enter and exit domestic investments very smoothly
