Staring at the computer screen in his office on the top floor of his electronic parts factory in Wenzhou, 47-year-old Chen Yanchuan, a native of this entrepreneurial town in Zhejiang province, is trying to figure out how much more money should he pour into his new-found passion: punting the Hong Kong stock market.

This is not a trivial decision and the money involved is hardly small change. So far, Chen said that he has "invested tens of millions of yuan in the Hong Kong stock market", with an expanding portfolio of "red chips", stocks of mainland enterprises listed on the Hong Kong bourse.

"I am not making a lot of money yet," Chen said. "But I will when I learn enough to dabble in derivative trading. The opportunities are limitless."