The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) was established in late 1990 as a nonprofit organization, and regulated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. A shares are restricted to domestic investors, while B shares are open to all investors. Bonds traded on the exchange include government, corporate, and convertible. Trading hours for B shares are 9:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. and 1 P.M. to 3 P.M. Monday through Friday.

The SSE has become the most important stock market in the Chinese mainland in terms of number of listed companies, number of shares listed, total market value, tradable market value, securities turnover in value. As of December 2004, the SSE has recorded over 37.87 million investors and 837 companies listed on it. The total market capitalization of SSE reached 2.6 trillion yuan. In 2004, 45.7 billion yuan were raised from SSE market. Hence it makes the SSE a important exchange for companies seeking public listing.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges list more than 1,200 companies with a combined market capitalization of US$500 billion (2005) (30% of GDP), rivalling the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as Asia's second-largest stock market behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange.