Tencent and China Mobile could join ICBC in a shake-up of Hong Kong’s key China-tracking indices in a move designed to limit the complexities caused by China’s multiple share classes.
The changes by Hang Seng Indexes are the latest effort by index providers to better reflect the performance of Chinese companies amid rising investor interest. Depending on the benchmark followed, Chinese stocks this year are up as much as 36 per cent, according to MSCI China, or down 4 per cent for those following the Shenzhen Composite.
Earlier this year, the decision by MSCI to include mainland A-shares in its indices marked a milestone for China’s market development since it will for the first time force index-tracking investors to invest in onshore companies or their H-share cousins.