China A-shares will not be included in MSCI index

Equity index provider MSCI announced it would not include China A-shares into its benchmark emerging markets index due to resistance by international funds, Reuters reported. China is already a component of its emerging market index, but its share is primarily composed of stocks listed in Hong Kong. With the quota system (QFII) for foreign investors expanding, index providers eyed the inclusion of A-shares in their benchmark index. But concerns over the difficulty of accessing China’s onshore capital markets ultimately won out. China’s inclusion would have injected much-needed liquidity into the country’s long struggling bourses.