Best China ETFs for November 2020
These are the top performing China ETFs, which can provide U.S. investors with international diversification in their portfolios.

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Disclosure: The author held no positions in the aforementioned securities at the time of publication.Investors looking to diversify their portfolios geographically have a range of options, and getting into China — the world's second-largest economy — can be particularly appealing. If so, one route is to buy China exchange-traded funds.
What are China ETFs?
China ETFs are exchange-traded funds that track publicly listed Chinese companies and give investors exposure to Chinese markets without having to directly purchase those stocks. Instead, the issuing company purchases the underlying asset (such as stocks, bonds or currency), and fund investors purchase shares in the fund. As the underlying assets rise and fall, so does the value of your fund investment.
Researchers say investors often suffer from “home bias” — the tendency to purchase domestic stocks for their portfolio. But U.S. stocks make up only about 55% of global equities. Exposure to international markets, especially a large player like China, gives investors the benefit of diversification as one region’s markets may rise while others fall.
Investing in China ETFs carries risks, such as trade tensions with the U.S. and the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak. Stil, many investors are placing long-term bets on the world’s second-largest economy.
» MORE: How does an ETF work?
Best performing China ETFs for November 2020
Below is our list of best performing China ETFs. We've excluded China exchange-traded notes and leveraged China ETFs:
Symbol | Company | YTD performance | Expense ratio |
---|---|---|---|
KGRN | KraneShares MSCI China Environment Index ETF | 70.87% | 0.80% |
CHIQ | Global X MSCI China Consumer Discretionary ETF | 50.61% | 0.65% |
KURE | KraneShares MSCI All China Health Care Index ETF | 47.9% | 0.65% |
KWEB | KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF | 41.68% | 0.76% |
CNXT | VanEck Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF | 38.81% | 0.65% |
CXSE | WisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund | 37.42% | 0.32% |
CHIH | Global X MSCI China Health Care ETF | 36.16% | 0.66% |
CHIS | Global X MSCI China Consumer Staples ETF | 34.8% | 0.67% |
CHIK | Global X MSCI China Information Technology ETF | 34.79% | 0.66% |
CQQQ | Invesco China Technology ETF | 33.57% | 0.70% |
Data current as of Oct. 2, 2020.
How to invest in China ETFs
Here’s how to buy shares in a China ETF:
Step 1: Find a China ETF
Search for China ETFs on your broker's website. (No broker? Here's how to open a brokerage account.)
Step 2: Analyze the ETF
Some things to check before purchasing shares in a China ETF:
5-year returns. Although we list the top ETFs by year-to-date performance above, it pays to look at longer-term results rather than chase recent performance.
Type of China ETF. There are nearly 50 China ETFs available to U.S. investors, including equity, fixed income and currency assets classes. Some focus on the total China market, while others focus on company size or a particular sector, such as technology, health care and real estate.
Expense ratio. This annual fee is paid out of your investments in the fund, so the lower the expense ratio, the better. The average expense ratio for China ETFs is 0.7%, according to ETF.com.
Important note: The average investor should avoid leveraged China ETFs, which use financial derivatives and borrowed cash to make predictions on future prices. The average investor also shouldn't consider China exchange-traded notes, or ETNs, which are secured debt obligations. Unlike ETFs, these funds don’t actually own the underlying asset and have a higher risk of default. These investments aren’t good for a buy-and-hold strategy favored by many investors saving for the long term.
Step 3: Buy the China ETF
You can purchase ETFs just like you’d buy a company stock — for both, you need an online brokerage account to buy and sell shares.
To see brokerages with a broad ETF selection , check out our full list of the best brokers for ETF investing.
Learn more about sector ETFs:
Disclosure: The author held no positions in the aforementioned securities at the time of publication.
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