FTSE Russell has decided not to include Chinese bonds in a key government bond index, citing concerns over market liquidity and foreign exchange execution as forestalling greater integration of the country’s $5tn government bond market.
The company said measures to improve foreign investor access to Chinese government bonds “mark significant progress” towards the country achieving the highest ranking of accessibility necessary for inclusion in the World Government Bond index tracking major markets.
But it said that index users “have provided feedback that they would like to observe further improvements to secondary market liquidity, and increased flexibility in FX execution and the settlement of transactions”.