Is 4 Hours Per Day Enough for A-Shares? Global Exchanges "Compete" on Trading Hours and Explore Gradual Extensions

For those who monitor the market daily, you might have experienced this: busy with meetings in the morning, just about to open the app at noon to check, and the A-shares market goes into “midday break”; in the afternoon, before closing at 3 p.m., you’re still busy with work and miss the trading opportunity, only to regret it afterward.

After implementing 24-hour trading on weekdays, the Nasdaq in the United States recently announced plans to introduce a new tokenized stock mechanism, paving the way for future “year-round, 7x24” trading.

Recently, the topic of “extending A-shares trading hours” has attracted widespread attention. Is there room for optimization in A-shares trading hours?

Global Exchanges’ Trading Hours Competition

From 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., the total trading time is 4 hours. This trading schedule has been used since the founding of China’s securities market.

Looking globally, “extending trading hours” has become a choice for many exchanges.

The London Stock Exchange, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and Euronext each have daily trading hours of 8.5 hours; the Singapore Exchange trades for 7 hours daily.

Korea’s stock exchange first abolished the “midday break” in 2000, and in 2016, extended the closing time by half an hour, increasing trading hours to 6.5 hours.

Hong Kong’s HKEX extended trading hours from 4 hours to 5 hours as early as 2011, and in 2012, shortened the midday break, ultimately settling at 5.5 hours.

On November 5, 2024, the Tokyo Stock Exchange will extend its closing time from 3:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., increasing total trading hours to 5.5 hours.

“Currently, the trading hours of A-shares are the shortest among major global markets,” said Liu Chunsheng, associate professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics. He pointed out that the current 4-hour trading window has low overlap with major global markets, which weakens China’s asset pricing power globally.

Zhao Xijun, co-director of the China Capital Market Research Institute at Renmin University of China, told China News Service that as China’s capital market internationalizes and foreign institutional investors participate more deeply, the existing trading hours and the operation times of global capital markets are not fully aligned, which cannot fully meet international investors’ needs for time coverage.

From 13 to Over 5,400 Companies

More importantly, A-shares are no longer the “small scale” they once were.

In December 1990, Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchanges opened one after another, with only 13 listed companies at that time. Today, A-shares are unrecognizable, with daily trading volume exceeding one trillion yuan and the number of listed companies ranking first worldwide.

“As of the end of 2025, the number of A-share listed companies will have surpassed 5,400, with over 250 million investor accounts, and daily trading volume maintained at trillions. However, the actual daily trading time of only 4 hours makes investors miss trading opportunities due to time conflicts,” said Ge Yuxiang, chief analyst of non-bank financials at Zhongtai Securities, to China News Service.

Liu Chunsheng believes that insufficient trading hours prevent market information from being reflected in prices in a timely manner. Overnight trading may lead to significant fluctuations and is not conducive to smooth foreign capital allocation and risk hedging.

Technological evolution is also changing traditional trading methods. “Compared to the past reliance on offline orders through branch offices, the rapid development of quantitative and algorithm-driven intelligent trading technology is gradually becoming an important force in the market,” Zhao Xijun said. This tech-driven trading mode inherently operates around the clock without interruption, demanding higher internal flexibility in trading hours.

Regarding investor structure, the market participation is becoming more diverse. Data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange shows that by 2025, new A-share accounts totaled 2.747 million, a 9.75% increase from 2024’s 2.499 million.

Hua Xia Fund pointed out in a January 2026 article that young investors are becoming the core force of incremental individual investors, with over 45% of new accounts from those under 35, including “Post-90s” and “Post-00s,” becoming a fresh bloodline in the market.

Zhao Xijun said that younger investors increasingly prefer to participate in trading via mobile smart devices. The traditional fixed 4-hour trading window does not align well with their work and life rhythm, making it inconvenient for many to access the market during this period.

Exploring Step-by-Step Extension of Trading Hours

Extending A-shares trading hours is not a new topic. In August 2023, the China Securities Regulatory Commission explicitly stated that it would study the appropriate extension of trading hours for the A-share market and bond markets to better meet trading needs.

What challenges need to be addressed to extend A-shares trading hours?

Ge Yuxiang said that extending trading hours is not simply a matter of changing system clocks but involves a comprehensive system engineering process. He emphasized that “the capacity and stability of the core trading system” are the primary technical challenges. Extending trading hours means the system must sustain high loads for longer periods. Whether existing matching engines and market data distribution systems can maintain millisecond-level low latency without crashes during high-frequency trading requires rigorous stress testing.

Additionally, extending trading hours involves reconstructing clearing and settlement systems. Ge Yuxiang pointed out that “compression of end-of-day processing windows” is the biggest technical bottleneck. Currently, A-shares implement T+1 settlement, with high-intensity reconciliation, fund transfers, and securities transfers typically occurring between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. If trading extends to 4:00 p.m. or later, the settlement window will be compressed.

Beyond technical issues, practical operation faces risks such as increased overtrading and higher operational costs. Ge Yuxiang noted that without changing the limit on daily price limits and T+1 settlement, extending trading hours could lead to more frequent trading by some investors and increase the probability of intraday “limit-up breakouts,” raising the risk of losses.

“Moreover, staff working hours at exchanges, brokerages, fund companies, and clearing banks will need to be extended, increasing labor costs; at the same time, costs for data center air conditioning, electricity, and equipment depreciation will linearly increase with operational time,” he added.

Nankai University finance professor Tian Lihui told China News Service that the current A-share market is still dominated by retail investors, who are at a disadvantage in information access and professional skills. Extending trading hours would require more effort to keep up with market rhythms, widening the capability gap between retail and institutional investors.

Tian Lihui further said that advantages of high-frequency trading and quantitative strategies by institutions will be amplified over longer periods, further squeezing retail investors’ space. He believes that solving these issues should not rely solely on extending trading hours but on improving delisting systems, strengthening information disclosure, and guiding long-term funds into the market to fundamentally enhance market investability. Making the market fairer and more transparent is more important than simply keeping it open longer.

Ge Yuxiang suggested that promoting A-shares’ openness could be achieved through a phased approach. The first phase would keep morning trading hours unchanged but extend the afternoon close to 4:00 p.m., aligning with Hong Kong stocks, with minimal technical changes and clear benefits (addressing linkage with Hong Kong markets). The second phase could involve opening earlier at 9:00 a.m. and extending the lunch break to 12:00, increasing total trading hours to 5.5–6 hours to connect with other Asia-Pacific markets.

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(Article source: China News Service)