The DAX index has been licensed to HuaAn Asset Management, one of the longest-running fund management companies in China, to serve as the basis for a cross-border exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The German DAX index has been licensed to HuaAn Asset Management to underlie a cross-border ETF available in China.

This is the first time that the German blue-chip index will be available in China in an ETF format.

The DAX measures the performance of the 30 largest and most liquid companies on the German equities market and represents around 80% of the market capitalisation of listed firms in Germany.

The index currently serves as the basis for more than 200,000 financial products, including numerous ETFs, and is one of the largest underlyings for derivatives globally.

“As the unique and reliable measure of Germany’s leading companies, DAX continues to be a popular underlying for index-based financial products,” said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX, the marketing agent for the DAX index. “The new ETF by HuaAn Asset Management is a major step in providing Chinese investors direct access to the DAX index for the first time.”

Li Qing, CEO of HuaAn Asset Management, said: “The DAX index is one of the most well-known flagship indices in the European market. Its constituent stocks include BMW, Volkswagen, Bayer, Siemens and other world-renowned German companies.”

Li added: “Our new cross-border ETF is an important means for HuaAn to integrate into the international capital market and develop its overseas investment business. They will help to speed up its transformation from a Chinese fund company to a modern asset management institution.”

Since its inception in 1998, HuaAn Asset Management has grown to become one of the largest fund management firms in mainland China, managing in excess of $10 billion.