An exchange traded fund has been launched which is described as the first renminbi-qualified foreign investor ETF to track a new index of leading Chinese mainland shares.

CSOP Asset Management, which offers a range of funds, particularly those with a focus on China, has launched an exchange traded fund that is described as the first renminbi-qualified foreign investor ETF to track a new index of leading Chinese mainland shares.

The CSOP SZSE ChiNext ETF tracks the ChiNext Index, which replicates performance of the top 100 A-Share companies listed on the ChiNext board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The ETF listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last Friday.

The asset manager was advised by Deacons, the law firm operating in Hong Kong and mainland China.

The A-Shares market in China has been galvanised in recent months by the launch late last year of the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect equity market link; there is widespread expection of a similar link from Hong Kong to Shenzhen and the moves are seen as ways through which China intends to open up its capital markets to international investors.