Shanghai Stock Exchange weathering lockdown storm

Shanghai's stock market opened normally on Monday, only four hours after Pudong's lockdown began at 5am.

Performing better than widely expected, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipped only 0.13 percent to 3,208.12 in the morning session.

The normal trading was a result of overnight efforts that brokerages and fund companies in Shanghai have urgently deployed employees to guarantee trading on the stock market during the lockdown of the Pudong New Area.

The city announced on Sunday night that a full lockdown will be imposed in Pudong and Puxi respectively in turn for a new round of massive nucleic acid testing from Monday morning, which raised concerns about whether the opening bell would sound as usual on Monday morning.

After the notice, brokerages and fund companies deployed their employees and made proper work arrangements, taking into account the special nature of certain jobs, such as trading, IT, customer service and operations.

On-site personnel were asked to return to their offices before midnight on Sunday.

There were also posts on social media that a number of fund companies were offering subsidies to employees staying in their offices overnight, which some fund company employees then said they were untrue.

Also on Sunday night, the Shanghai Stock Exchange issued a notice on several measures to optimize self-regulatory services and support the proper functioning of the stock market during the pandemic.

It proposed ensuring the normal advancement of the STAR Market's examination and approval services, saying applications for issuance and listing, major asset reorganization and other related applications submitted through the SSE's online approval system will be accepted normally.

The deliberations of the exchange's listing committee will be carried out normally in accordance with established procedures through video conferencing or other means. The exchange is also offering "cloud listing" services for online listing ceremonies, encouraging issuers to make reasonable arrangements for issuance and listing according to the actual situation. It also supports issuers having on-site listing ceremonies after the recent virus surge stabilizes.