Rivals or pals?

That’s the big question for the Hong Kong stock exchange these days, as it moves ever closer to its mainland Chinese counterparts in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Twenty-one years after Hong Kong’s return to China, the stock market of the former British colony has developed an intricate, symbiotic relationship with its mainland counterparts — they are increasingly interconnected while competing with each other.

Although officials including HKEx chief Charles Li have repeatedly said that cooperation should always outweigh competition, clashes between the Hong Kong and mainland bourses have become more visible as competition grows more heated for some of the world’s hottest Chinese companies.

Regulators on both sides have stepped up communication and coordination on market supervision. Just last month, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission said it would enhance the exchange of information with the CSRC under the stock-connect programs to identify mainland investors behind transactions as a way of combating cross-boundary market misconduct.

To read more in-depth about this complex developing relationship in Caixin’s latest cover story, click here.