(Yicai Global) Jan. 28 -- The latest China-focused exchange-traded fund from US asset manager Krane Funds Advisors was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, becoming the first overseas-traded Star Market ETF.

The KraneShares SSE STAR Market 50 Index ETF tracks the Shanghai Stock Exchange Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 Index, which consists of the 50 largest securities by market capitalization and liquidity on the Nasdaq-like board.

Controlled by China International Capital, Krane Funds is known for its offshore China-focused ETFs. It has 16, 11 of which track the Chinese stock and bond markets.

“KSTR is the first ETF listed in the United States that offers investors direct access to STAR Market-listed companies,” Chief Executive Jonathan Krane said in a press release.

Since it was set up in July 2019, the Star Market has drawn much attention from overseas investors and has become one of the world’s largest initial public offering venues. Its listed firms are mainly tech-focused and include those in new-generation information technology, biomedicine, new energy and environmental protection.

Except for the CSI 300 Index, the overall scale of overseas products that track Chinese indexes is small. The international Chinese mainland-related indexes face strong competition from MSCI and FTSE Russell. The overseas listing of KraneShares latest ETF is expected to help enhance the international competitiveness of China’s domestic benchmarks and index compilers, and could also boost the global prestige of the SSE’s core indexes.

Japan’s Daiwa Asset Management plans to introduce the first Star Market 50 ETF to trade in that country’s market. The plan was formally approved by the Japan Exchange Group on Jan. 26.

Daiwa’s iFreeETF China STAR50 is a new product released under the Japan-China ETF Connect scheme between the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Japan Exchange Group. The ETF will be officially listed for trading on April 8, according to Japan Exchange Group’s website.

Editor: Tom Litting