China Asset Management Company (ChinaAMC), China’s largest fund management firm, has listed its second Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

ChinaAMC’s new ETF is the first to be based on an index developed by the China Exchanges Services Company.

The fund, the ChinaAMC CES China A80 Index ETF, is linked to the CES China A80 Index and trades in both Hong Kong dollars (ticker 3180) and renminbi (83180).

The ETF is the first to be based on an index developed by the China Exchanges Services Company (CESC), a joint venture formed and equally owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE).

CESC was officially launched in September 2012 to develop a range of cross-border indices based on securities traded on the Hong Kong and Mainland exchanges.

The CES China A80 Index measures the performance of the 80 largest and most liquid A-shares traded on the two Mainland exchanges. A-shares are stocks of companies incorporated and listed in Mainland China and traded in renminbi.

Charles Li, Chief Executive of HKEx, said: “The launch of our first ETF on a CESC index is another milestone for us and CESC. We launched CES China 120 Index futures, our first CESC index futures, about two weeks ago and hope to have more CESC products in our markets in the next several months.”

He added: “CESC opened for business in late October of last year and we are very proud of its many achievements in its first 10 months. Its success shows there are plenty of opportunities for us to work with Mainland exchanges in mutually beneficial ways.”

Bryan Chan, Chief Executive of CESC, commented: “We are pleased to see the launch of first ETF on a CESC index on Monday, 26 August, just two weeks after the launch of CES 120 futures, the first futures on a CESC index. It will be another major step in our efforts to build a broad range of products on our Cross Border Index Series.”

Following the listing, the Hong Kong exchange now has seven RQFII ETFs, seven ETFs available for trading and settlement in both renminbi and Hong Kong dollars, nine renminbi-denominated ETFs, and 112 ETFs in total.

Average daily turnover of ETFs on the exchange in the first seven months of the year was up 160% from the same period last year and the sector accounted for 6.5% of securities market turnover between 1 January and 31 July, up from 3% in the first seven months of last year.

Three of the top four ETFs by turnover value and seven of the top 10, including the top two, were A-share ETFs.

Top 10 ETFs by HKD turnover value at HKEx (Jan-Jul 2013)

* A-share ETF
# RQFII ETF