Leading US-based index to include Chinese stocks for first time
China on Wednesday hailed the acceptance of its stocks in a leading US-based index of emerging market shares as a signal of confidence in the Asian power's economy after three previous rejections.
The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets opened higher after New York's MSCI agreed to include 222 large capitalisation Chinese stocks in its MSCI Emerging Markets Index, representing 0.73 percent of the index.
MSCI's decision has been closely watched as a sign of China's growing importance on international financial markets.
"We applaud and appreciate MSCI for making such a decision," said Zhang Xiaojun, spokesman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
"It showed international investors' confidence in a stable Chinese economy with better prospects and in the steadiness of China's financial market," Zhang said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 0.29 percent while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, gained 0.24 percent in early trading.
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