The Shanghai Stock Exchange was formed on November 26^th 1990 and began operating less than a month later on 19^th December 1990. The aim of the founder members of the Shanghai Stock Exchange was to create a transparent and effective marketplace. They aim to do this primarily through transparency and good organization as well as the introduction of strict rules, regulations and guidelines.

15 years since it’s inception the Shanghai Stock Exchange has become the most prominent stock exchange in China with greater members, a larger number of listed shares, market value, securities turnover and stock turnover; the Shanghai Stock Exchange has the opportunity to grow and expand and they look set to take the opportunity by the scruff of the neck. As expected in Shanghai the technology used in the Shanghai Stock Exchange is exceptional and will provide the rock solid foundation that will take them forward into the future.

Shanghai Stock Exchange Market Infrastructure.

The computer system that the Shanghai Stock Exchange uses and relies upon has been upgraded numerous times in order to ensure its integrity and ability to handle and process the data. The host computer has an incredibly high specification that means it can process 29 million orders or 60 million transactions at an incredible rate of 16000 transactions per second. This means that it will not struggle to cope with the burdens placed on it.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange Market runs an entirely paperless trading system and in order to manage this successfully they have integrated an impressive computer system that has terminals not only on the trading floor but in the offices of member firms as well. They have a 3600 square-meter trading floor that is the largest in the Asia Pacific area as well as the largest domestic satellite communication network.

By the end of 2004 there were 837 listed companies actively trading shares on the stock exchange and 161 registered member companies. Between the trading floor and the investment companies there are a total of 4698 trading seats helping to make the Shanghai Stock Exchange one of the biggest in the Asia Pacific region.

The future of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange already has a vast array of systems in place covering a broad spectrum of the market and with these systems as well as newly integrated software and hardware they intend to continue growing and improving through this new century. Their aim of being a transparent, efficient and user friendly stock exchange has already been realized but they don’t intend to stop or rest on their laurels. They intend to keep growing and become bigger and better than they already are.