In less than three years, all exchange-traded funds (ETFs) valued over one hundred billion yuan have vanished from China's A-share market.
According to Wind data, as of the end of the first half of 2026, the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF (ASX: Not applicable, this is a Chinese fund), the largest ETF product in the A-share market, has seen its total asset size shrink to 94.871 billion yuan. Consequently, there are no longer any single ETF products in the A-share market with a size exceeding one hundred billion yuan.
The First Hundred-Billion-Yuan ETF
Launched on May 4, 2012, the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF was initially co-managed by Zhang Ya and Liu Jun. By June 12, 2015, Liu Jun took over as the sole manager.
As an ETF tracking the CSI 300 Index, it recorded losses in its first two years. It only began generating profits in 2014, but returned to a loss in 2016. Its performance gradually stabilized afterward, though it still experienced losses in several subsequent years.
Data shows the fund reported annual profits (or losses) of -1.000 billion yuan in 2021, -9.940 billion yuan in 2022, -12.086 billion yuan in 2023, 56.435 billion yuan in 2024, and 78.516 billion yuan in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, it again posted a loss of -3.269 billion yuan.
Regarding net asset size, on August 7, 2023, the fund disclosed its units in issue had surpassed 25 billion. Combined with that day's closing net asset value per unit of 4.063 yuan, the product's total size broke the one-hundred-billion-yuan barrier, becoming the first broad-market index ETF in the A-share market to reach that milestone.
Subsequently, the fund's size expanded rapidly, surpassing the two-hundred-billion and three-hundred-billion-yuan thresholds consecutively in 2024, and reaching the four-hundred-billion-yuan level in the third quarter of 2025.
However, within just the first half of 2026, its size contracted from over four hundred billion yuan to below one hundred billion, marking a dramatic reversal.
In its Q1 2026 report, fund manager Liu Jun analyzed that the A-share market in that quarter first rose then fell, exhibiting volatile adjustments. Early in the year, factors such as rising domestic policy easing expectations and ample central bank liquidity boosted market risk appetite and capital inflows, leading to a temporary market rally.
Subsequently, influenced by a combination of internal and external factors, the market entered a correction phase. Externally, escalating U.S.-Iran tensions heightened navigation risks in the Strait of Hormuz. Simultaneously, the U.S. Federal Reserve's unexpectedly hawkish pivot caused a significant retreat in global risk appetite. Internally, profit-taking pressure mounted in previously rising sectors, compounded by increased caution during the earnings season, leading to heavier selling pressure and a gradual index decline.
The Complete Disappearance of Hundred-Billion-Yuan ETFs
Beyond the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF managed by Liu Jun, several other ETF products in the A-share market also reached the hundred-billion-yuan level over the past three years.
Half a year after the Huatai-PineBridge fund first broke the threshold, on February 6, 2024, the ChinaAMC SSE 50 ETF also surpassed one hundred billion yuan in size, becoming the second A-share equity ETF to do so.
The very next day, on February 7, 2024, E Fund Management Co., Ltd.'s E Fund CSI 300 ETF also broke through the one-hundred-billion-yuan mark for the first time, with a closing size of approximately 103 billion yuan, making it the industry's third hundred-billion-yuan ETF.
According to related reports, at the peak in October 2024, the number of ETF products with net assets exceeding one hundred billion yuan briefly reached eight. These included the Huatai-PineBridge CSI 300 ETF, the E Fund CSI 300 ETF (Inception), the ChinaAMC CSI 300 ETF, the Harvest CSI 300 ETF, the ChinaAMC SSE 50 ETF, the E Fund ChiNext ETF, the China Southern China Securities 500 ETF, and the ChinaAMC SSE STAR 50 Index ETF.
In 2025, the A-share market largely maintained the momentum from 2024. Statistics showed that by the end of 2025, seven broad-market index ETF products in the A-share market still had sizes exceeding one hundred billion yuan. Yet, within just half a year, the net asset sizes of all these hundred-billion-yuan ETFs had fallen below that level.
The Rise of Alternative ETFs
As broad-market ETFs entered a downturn, certain commodity and cross-border ETFs began to gain prominence. In the first quarter of 2026, driven by rising market避险 sentiment and central bank gold purchases, gold ETFs emerged strongly. By the end of March 2025, the Huaan Gold ETF reached a size of 113.816 billion yuan, becoming the first domestic commodity ETF to surpass one hundred billion yuan.
During the same period, cross-border ETFs within the market also performed relatively well. In the third quarter of 2025, the size of Fullgoal Fund Management Co., Ltd.'s Hong Kong Stock Connect Internet ETF peaked at 97.6 billion yuan. Subsequently, its size declined continuously, falling to 62 billion yuan by the end of Q1 2026.
The Fading Era of Trillion-Yuan ETF Managers
On January 12, 2026, the total ETF assets under management (AUM) at China Asset Management Co., Ltd. (ChinaAMC) reached 1.02 trillion yuan, making it the first public fund management company in China to surpass one trillion yuan in ETF AUM.
At that time, following closely behind, E Fund Management Co., Ltd.'s ETF AUM also briefly exceeded 920 billion yuan, coming within striking distance of the trillion-yuan mark.
As the core vehicle of the index investing wave, China's domestic ETF market rose rapidly and fell just as quickly. At the beginning of 2025, the total AUM for all ETFs in the market was 3.73 trillion yuan, which had grown to 6.02 trillion yuan by the end of that year. However, in just the first half of 2026, the entire market experienced net redemptions of 1.3 trillion yuan. Most fund companies saw negative growth, especially the leading ETF managers.
According to Wind data, among the top ten fund companies by ETF AUM in the first half of 2026, Huatai-PineBridge Fund Management saw its management scale shrink by over half. ChinaAMC, E Fund, China Southern Asset Management, and Harvest Fund Management also all experienced ETF size declines exceeding one-third.
Notable Exceptions to the Trend
However, the industry was not without exceptions. Benefiting from the popularity of the semiconductor chip and communications sectors, Guotai Asset Management Co., Ltd. became the biggest "dark horse" in the first half of 2026. During that period, its Communications ETF (Guotai) and Semiconductor Equipment ETF (Guotai) grew by 31.3 billion yuan and 13.3 billion yuan, respectively. These two thematic ETF products alone contributed over 40 billion yuan in incremental assets for Guotai Fund.
By the end of June 2026, Guotai Fund's total ETF AUM reached 371.502 billion yuan, an increase of 85.057 billion yuan from the start of the year, propelling its ranking from seventh to third place.
Global and Domestic ETF Landscape
According to an ETF industry development report (2026) released by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, by the end of 2025, the total global AUM of listed ETFs exceeded $19.7 trillion USD, a 31% increase from the end of 2024. Geographically, the U.S. ETF market accounted for approximately $13.5 trillion USD, or about 68% of the total. The European ETF market was around $3.2 trillion USD, representing about 16%. The Asia-Pacific ETF market exceeded $2.4 trillion USD, accounting for nearly 12%. By asset class, equity ETFs constituted roughly 78%, bond ETFs over 16%, and commodity ETFs about 3.4%.
Within equity ETFs, by the end of 2025, U.S. equity ETF AUM was $10.6 trillion USD against a total U.S. stock market capitalization of $72.1 trillion USD, a penetration rate of 14.7%. European equity ETF AUM was $2.4 trillion USD against a total market cap of $23.5 trillion USD, a 10.2% penetration rate. Within the Asia-Pacific region, Japanese equity ETF AUM was $0.7 trillion USD against a total market cap of $7.8 trillion USD, a penetration rate of about 8.5%. Chinese equity ETF AUM was $0.6 trillion USD, representing a penetration rate of approximately 3.6%, indicating significant room for future development.
With the continuous完善 of the full spectrum of ETF products, accelerating product innovation, the rapid domestic adoption of active ETFs, and increased frequency and proportion of ETF dividends, it is believed that the current downturn in China's ETF market size is temporary, and the future remains bright.
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