Shanghai Stock Exchange to expand ETF trading

BEIJING - The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), which marked its 20th anniversary of trading on Friday, is planning to boost the market of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF), a relatively new breed in China's securities market, to cater for the growing appetite of Chinese investors.

Zhou Qinye, vice-president of the SSE, recently said that the bourse is planning to introduce more cross-market and cross-border ETF products. It recently signed agreements on index authorization with nine international index companies and five exchanges.

Industry players and analysts are positive about the outlook for ETFs in China, saying that their introduction will offer investors more asset allocation products, given the current shortage of investment tools in China.