China ETFs look offshore

China’s vast pool of domestic savings has mostly been invested internally, but the proposed launch of exchange-traded funds linked to international shares could be a sign this is about to change. Justin Lee reports

Accessing China’s rapidly expanding economy has been the ambition of international investors for a decade – large global banks, in particular, have scrambled to obtain approval to invest in the onshore market as part of the foreign qualified institutional investor programme. Just as important, though, has been the loosening of restrictions to allow domestic investors to place money overseas. That transformation received a boost in February, when the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC)