Mainland investors will soon be able to buy shares of Xiaomi Corp, adding support to this year’s worst-performing Chinese technology firm.
The country’s stock exchanges just issued new rules that will on October 28 bring Hong Kong-listed stocks with unequal voting rights into trading links with the mainland for the first time. 
That will give onshore investors access to firms such as Xiaomi and Meituan Dianping. Both saw strong gains yesterday, with Xiaomi rising 5% to be among the best performers on the MSCI China Index.
It signals that current shareholders expect appetite for a stock that has fallen more than 30% this year - and nearly 50% since its debut in July 2018. 
The company has recently dropped out of the leading echelon in the Chinese tech market, where Huawei Technologies Co, Vivo and Oppo accounted for over 70% of all shipments in the June quarter, according to research firm IDC.
“We are closely watching Xiaomi as we believe it has long-term investment value,” said Zhang Yankun, a partner at Beijing Hone Investment Management Company. 
He plans to invest in the stock once it is included in the Stock Connect program that links Hong Kong’s stock exchange with counterparts in Shenzhen and Shanghai.
Also helping Xiaomi was a report that it planned to introduce more than 10 5G-compatible phone models next year. Chinese internet giant Meituan gained 4.3% on Monday, on the expectation that the high profile listing will prove popular with mainland traders. It is up 120% this year.
Becoming accessible to mainland investors has helped stocks including Ping An Healthcare and Technology Co, which saw strong gains on such expectations in 2018. It saw significant gains earlier this month amid mainland buying. “Foreign investors may not fully understand the company’s business,” said Zhang of Xiaomi. “But we believe it is competitive in terms of the household electric appliance ecosystem and customer experience, especially among the younger generation.”