Green light for through train after Leung's pledge to Xi Jinping on handling protests

State leaders gave the green light to the launch of the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock market "through train" scheme after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying pledged that the city's government was capable of handling the Occupy Central protests.

The market originally expected the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect scheme to kick off in October given the joint announcement by securities regulators in Hong Kong and the mainland in April stating that it would take about six months to complete the preparations.

The Hong Kong government originally expected to announce the launch of the long-awaited scheme on October 27.

But a Hong Kong government source said state leaders started to worry about the threat to the rule of law and social order in Hong Kong as the Occupy protests continued.

"The central government informed the Hong Kong government on October 25 that the scheme would be postponed without giving a date for its launch," the source said.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing issued a statement the following day saying that it had not received approval for the launch of the scheme and there was no firm date for its implementation.