China said Monday it would soon launch a stock index covering 500 firms listed in the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan to enhance financial co-operation in the Greater China region. China Securities Index Co, established by the mainland's two bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen, will start to publish the CSI Cross-Straits 500 Index on January 18, the company said in a statement.
With the signature of three memoranda of understanding between China and Taiwan in November, "the co-operation in financial sectors across the straits is now entering a substantial phase," it said. The documents - on banking, insurance and securities - are expected to help pave the way for Taiwan's finance industry to gain greater access to the huge mainland market and open up the possibility of more investment activity. The new index "caters to investors' need to observe and invest in markets in the three places and provides a basic instrument for developing index-related products and derivatives," according to the statement.