"China’s economy is booming. This index gives Austrian investors the opportunity to participate in China’s exceptional development while relying on the internationally recognized index know-how of Wiener Börse," said Michael Buhl, Member of the Management Board of Wiener Börse. At present, Wiener Börse computes 27 indices of which 18 are for the East European market.
The CNX, which covers around 30% of the market with its 30 companies, will be calculated in euro, USD and renminbi and started at 1,000 points. The calculation and publication will be in real time on all days on which the Shanghai Stock Exchange is open. The maximum weighting of a company is limited to 20%, and the computation parameters are reviewed on a quarterly basis. The CNX has been calculated back to 1 January 2003, thus making it possible to compare it to the historic trends of the other two indices on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the SSE 180 and SSE 50.
In order to offer instruments on the CNX to its investors, the Capital Bank (GRAWE Gruppe AG) has entered negotiations with Chinese authorities. The launch of structured products and mutual funds will be possible after spring 2006. "Only 32 international institutions can currently offer their clients such a market access, most of them have already used up their quota for CNY-denominated investments", says Christian Jauk, CEO of the Capital Bank.
Measured by market capitalization, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in the Chinese mainland. As of the end of September 2005, market capitalization was USD 292bn with a total of 878 listed companies. There are two segments on the Shanghai Stock Exchange: The "A Shares" segment contains the stocks of larger Chinese companies that can only be traded by national members or selected international trading members, so-called qualified foreign institutional investors. The stocks in the "B-Shares" segment can be traded by all international investment firms but have lower market capitalization and liquidity.
