First batch of 10 CSI A500 ETFs hit market

The highly anticipated first batch of 10 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the China Securities Index (CSI) A500 Index debuted on Tuesday on the Chinese mainland bourses.

Approved by the Chinese security regulator in early September, the 10 ETFs have raised a total of approximately 20 billion yuan, or 2.81 billion U.S. dollars.

The CSI A500 ETFs run by China Southern Fund, Invesco Great Wall Fund, Harvest Fund, Yinhua Fund, and Guotai Asset Management are listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, Huatai-PineBridge Investments, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Fullgoal Fund, China Merchants Fund, and Taikang Asset Management have their ETFs listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

According to disclosed information, a variety of institutional investors - including brokerages, insurance funds, private equity firms, and foreign banks—are among the primary holders of the CSI A500 ETFs.

Analysts note that the introduction of the CSI A500 ETFs serves two significant purposes. First, it provides investors with opportunities to capitalize on the "new quality productive forces." Second, it directs more capital into those emerging and tech-heavy sectors, enhancing the capital market's ability to support the real economy.

Formally released on Sept 23, the CSI A500 index tracks 500 securities with large market values to reflect the overall stock performance of the listed companies most representative of China's various industries. 

Index funds represented by ETFs have developed rapidly in China. The domestic ETF market size reached 2.47 trillion yuan (about 350 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of June 2024, according to reports released by Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses. 

First batch of 10 CSI A500 ETFs hit market

China's Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest on Sunday, sending three astronauts to its orbiting space station.

The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, lifted off from the launch site at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT).

The crew members consist of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In another notable first, one of the crew members is set to undertake a year-long stay aboard the space station, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-23 spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.

China launches Shenzhou-23 manned spaceship