After the Shenzhen Stock Exchange included Xpeng in a stock connect linking the mainland and Hong Kong earlier this month, the Shanghai Stock Exchange has done the same.

After the Shenzhen Stock Exchange included Xpeng in a stock connect program linking the mainland and Hong Kong earlier this month, the Shanghai Stock Exchange has also taken action.

An announcement on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's website today said that Xpeng's shares traded in Hong Kong were included in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect list, which will take effect from the next trading day.

The list will be next adjusted on March 7, according to the announcement. This means Xpeng's local counterpart Li Auto may be included in the list at that time.

On February 9, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange announced that it had adjusted the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect list to include Xpeng Hong Kong shares, effective that day.

This made Xpeng the first electric vehicle maker to be included in the Hong Kong-Mainland Stock Connect.

The mechanism was launched in November 2014 to facilitate investors from Hong Kong and the mainland to buy each other's stocks.

With access to the list, Chinese mainland investors will be able to trade their stocks more easily, although investors with securities account assets of more than RMB 500,000 will only be eligible to participate in the facility.

It is worth noting that the Hong Kong-Mainland Stock Connect contains two channels, Shenzhen and Shanghai, which operate independently of each other.

Hong Kong stocks bought by investors using their Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect account can only be sold through that account, and the same is true for the Shanghai account.

Since being included in Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect on February 9, Xpeng shares traded in Hong Kong have risen about 10 percent.