Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

In September 1986, Shanghai opened its stock market, the first of its kind since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

An item from Sept 27, 1986, in China Daily showed people rushing to buy shares in the newly opened stock market.

It was seen as a milestone in the country's reform of finance.

The country's stock market has come a long way since it first began operations about three decades ago.

In 1990, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges were created. One year later, the Securities Association of China was established and in 1992, the China Securities Regulatory Commission was formed.

The country issued laws to regulate the sales and trade of securities in 1997.

Although severely affected by the 2008 global financial crisis, the country's stock market has gradually recovered.

To open up its equity markets to overseas investors, the central government rolled out the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect in 2014 and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect in 2016, as well as a bond-connect program has launched in Hong Kong.

In 2017, Morgan Stanley Capital International decided to include about 200 A shares in its emerging-market index in phases, a milestone for financial markets on the Chinese mainland.

In June, the Shanghai-London Stock Connect was launched in the United Kingdom capital, offering more opportunities for British and Chinese financial institutions to buy into each others' economic development.

The connect, a two-way depository receipt mechanism, brings together the Shanghai Stock Exchange with the London Stock Exchange.

Under the mechanism, Shanghai-listed companies can list on the London Stock Exchange via Global Depositary Receipts issuance, while British companies can issue China Depositary Receipts on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.