--- title: "FTSE China A50 Index: Methodology" description: "FTSE China A50 Index is maintained by FTSE Russell and covers top 50 China A-share equities. How it selects and weights its constituents, and what it measures." canonical: https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/indexes/ftse-china-a50/ source: "Swoopr Investment: https://www.getswoopr.com" --- # FTSE China A50 Index: What It Measures and How It Is Built ## Direct Answer > The FTSE China A50 Index is a rule-based measurement of top 50 China A-share equities, maintained by FTSE Russell. Like every index it owns nothing: it is a number produced by applying a published weighting formula to a selected list of companies, revised on a schedule the provider sets. ## What this index covers The FTSE China A50 Index covers top 50 China A-share equities, within the China market. FTSE Russell defines which securities are eligible, how they are selected from that pool, and how much each one contributes to the published number. The name states a target of 50 companies. A target is not a guarantee of the exact count on any given day: corporate actions, dual share classes and pending additions all move the real number around it. ## How constituents are weighted Weighted by free float and foreign ownership adjusted market capitalization: the formula multiplies price, exchange rate, shares in issue and an investability weighting factor, which reflects free float, foreign ownership limits and a minimum foreign headroom requirement. The weighting method is the single biggest driver of how an index behaves. Two indexes covering the same market can diverge for years purely because they weight differently, which is why comparing index levels without knowing the method tells you very little. ## What qualifies for inclusion The 50 largest companies by full market capitalization among FTSE China A All Cap constituents that are on the Northbound Stock Connect Buy and Sell list. Free float must exceed 5% unless the company is very large, and securities must pass the liquidity test, not be on exchange surveillance (ST) segments, and have traded on at least 60 days in the past year. Investment trusts and partnership structures are excluded. Eligibility rules are the part of an index most readers never look at and the part that decides what it can possibly measure. A screen that excludes a whole sector, or admits only one listing venue, shapes the result far more than any day of trading does. ## How long a listing must exist first There are no intra review additions: a new issue becomes eligible at the next quarterly review if it is large enough. A stock removed for a surveillance or trading screen is reconsidered only after 12 months and is then treated as a new issue. A seasoning rule is why a large new listing does not appear in an index the week it starts trading. It is a deliberate lag, and it means an index can under-represent a fast-growing part of the market for months at a time. ## When the membership is revised Reviewed quarterly in March, June, September and December using data from the Monday after the third Friday of February, May, August and November. Changes are implemented after the close on the third Friday and published on the Wednesday before the first Friday of the month. Liquidity is tested semiannually. Reconstitution is the one date an index changes shape by design rather than by price. Funds tracking it have to trade toward the new membership, which is why the schedule matters to anyone holding the tracker rather than only to the provider. ## The rule that surprises people Ranking uses full market capitalization including all share classes, not the investable value. A non member is inserted at rank 40 or above and a member is deleted only at rank 61 or below, and eligibility is tied to Stock Connect status at a cut off date four weeks before the review. ## References - [FTSE Russell: FTSE Russell, Ground Rules for the FTSE China A50 Index, version 2.8, February 2026](https://www.lseg.com/content/dam/ftse-russell/en_us/documents/ground-rules/ftse-china-a50-index-ground-rules-english.pdf), as published 2026. Every rule described on this page is taken from this document. ## Current FTSE China A50 Index constituents FTSE Russell publishes and licenses the FTSE China A50 Index constituent list. Swoopr does not republish it here. The provider's own page is the authoritative source for current membership and weights. [FTSE Russell: official FTSE China A50 Index page](https://www.ftserussell.com/products/indices/china) ## Related reading - [All stock market indexes](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/indexes/): how indexes are built, weighted and revised. - [Emerging Markets indexes](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/indexes/emerging-markets/): others covering the same region. - [Index concentration](https://www.getswoopr.com/technical-analysis/market-concentration/index-concentration/): measuring how much of an index sits in its largest holdings. - [Index rebalancing and inclusion effects](https://www.getswoopr.com/stocks/corporate-actions-catalysts/index-rebalancing-and-inclusion-effects/): what happens to a stock when index membership changes. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Who maintains the FTSE China A50 Index? FTSE Russell maintains the FTSE China A50 Index and publishes the methodology document that defines its eligibility and weighting rules. ### What does the FTSE China A50 Index measure? It measures top 50 China A-share equities. The index is a calculated number applying a weighting formula to a selected list of companies, and it holds nothing itself. ### Where can I see the current FTSE China A50 Index constituents? FTSE Russell publishes the current constituent list. Swoopr does not republish it, because index providers license constituent data and Swoopr holds no such licence. ## About the author The [Swoopr Editorial Team](https://www.getswoopr.com/authors/swoopr-editorial-team/) writes Swoopr Investment's educational library, covering market structure, analysis methods and the mechanics behind the numbers investors read every day. Our [editorial policy](https://www.getswoopr.com/legal/editorial-policy/) and [corrections policy](https://www.getswoopr.com/legal/corrections-policy/) set out how this content is produced, reviewed and fixed when it is wrong.