BEIJING - China's Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Wednesday announced a new round of tests for the imminent program to link the Shenzhen and Hong Kong exchanges.

Participants, including brokerages and fund companies, will simulate transaction applications, complete deal feedback and receiving trading data, the Shenzhen bourse said.

The testing, the third this month, will run from 9 am to 8 pm Saturday to ensure the reliability of all technical systems.

The Shenzhen-HK stock connect mechanism was approved in mid-August by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which said that approximately four months would be needed for regulatory, technical and other preparations.

A similar link between the Shanghai and Hong Kong bourses was launched in November 2014. Both schemes allow investors on the mainland and those in Hong Kong to trade selected stocks on each other's exchanges within a fixed daily quota.