Now the question is what the two bourses could do to integrate further.

The step the two exchanges are striving to implement is information sharing. Announcements released by any listed company, especially an A- and H-share firm, should be made available in both markets with an online information delivery system.

At the same time, they could jointly develop financial products that are traded in both markets, such as warrants and index futures. For example, the introduction of A-share index derivatives is highly likely, given the strong demand for the product in both Hong Kong and the mainland.

Then they could advance further by allowing investors to trade each other's stocks in real time. Of course, a gradual and cautious move in that direction is important.

However, there are still many hurdles before a merger could materialize.

The mainland's market is still not totally open to overseas investors.

And technically, the yuan is not fully convertible and the Shanghai Stock Exchange is not a public company, both of which make the integration of the two exchanges a long-term task.

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