Shenzhen bourse in tech pact with PSX

Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) signed an agreement on Tuesday to provide the latter with a new trading and surveillance system, a start for China's securities technology system to go global.

According to the agreement, SZSE will combine its latest technology products and Pakistani capital market's development characteristics to formulate PSX's new technology structure.

Sulaiman S Mehdi, chairman of PSX, expressed confidence that the initiative will go a long way in the development of Pakistani capital markets and in improving the overall investment climate.

"This procurement is a testimony of our firm belief and commitment of investing in technology and in making PSX an international exchange by all standards. So, for PSX, it's a dream come true," he said at the signing ceremony in Shenzhen.

Wang Jianjun, chief executive and president of the Shenzhen bourse, believes the new system will significantly enhance PSX's capability in terms of safe operation, risk prevention and control, to make it more reliable, cost-effective and efficient.

He said the deal was the first time that SZSE's IT system has been chosen over other top competitors from across the world, marking the first global steps of a Chinese securities technology system.

Wang said the Shenzhen bourse has a technology team of about 1,000 people and had independently developed key technologies of trading, surveillance, information disclosure and financial cloud. After achieving a record 17 years of uninterrupted operation, he is confident their core technology indicators lead the world.

Established in 1990, the bourse has become the financing cradle of more than 2,100 companies with a total market value of 21.67 trillion yuan ($3 trillion) by the end of September.

The two exchanges' cooperation began in 2016 when SZSE as a member of a consortium won the bid to purchase a 40 percent stake in PSX.

Besides, SZSE also participates in transformation and renovation of the technological system in Dhaka Stock Exchange of Bangladesh (DSE) after it led a Chinese consortium to take a strategic stake in DSE last year.

This May, the Window of Bangladesh was launched by the two securities authorities as part of V-Next, an internet-based financial information service platform established by the SZSE.

The network has attracted more than 10,000 innovative high-tech firms from over 41 countries and accumulated an investment of about 35 billion yuan.

The exchange has also been making an effort on technological advancement, especially digitization transformation. The latest move is to initiate an alliance of sharing technology achievements on Monday. It involves China Securities Regulatory Commission, China Securities Depository and Clearing Corp Ltd, as well as dozens of financial companies, such as GF Securities and Southern Asset Management.

The bourse has vowed to continue market cooperation with technology as the lead and promote connection of financial infrastructures along the Belt and Road.