Chinese mainland investors purchased a record HK$37.2 billion ($4.8 billion) worth of Hong Kong shares through a key trading link on Monday.

The figure tops the previous record of HK$35.9 billion in August via the so-called Stock Connect program, according to Bloomberg compiled data going back to 2016. That takes such buying to total HK$188.7 billion so far this year, about 60 percent of the amount for the same period last year.

The buying came as mainland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shares saw milder losses on a day when surging oil prices and concerns about a prolonged war in Iran triggered a global selloff. The Hang Seng Index pared a drop of 3.3 percent to end the session 1.4 percent lower, while a gauge of Asian equities was down close to 4 percent.

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The latest resilience of Chinese stocks also came as Beijing maintained its supportive policy stance for local markets and homegrown technology at the country’s annual legislative meetings that will end on Thursday.