For Managing the

Hang Seng China 50 Index

Sep 2019 | Version 1.2

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 Amendment History

Date Description
1.0 May 2016 First Issue
1.1 November 2018 Updated Universe and share classes included in Section 3 –
Constituent Eligibility
1.2 September 2019 Updated description of universe in Section 3 – Constituent
Eligibility

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 Table of Contents

Page

1. Overview 3

2. Management Responsibility 4

3. Constituent Eligibility 5

4. Index Review and Constituent Changes 7

5. Index Calculation 9

6. Index Rebalancing 10

7. Dissemination 11

8. Contact Information 12

9. Disclaimer 13

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1 Overview
1.1 The Hang Seng China 50 Index (“HSC50”) measures the overall performance of the 50 largest
China companies (in terms of market capitalisation) listed on the Hong Kong and / or mainland
China stock markets.

1.2 The HSC50 is freefloat-adjusted, market-capitalisation weighted with a 10% cap on individual
companies.

1.3 The HSC50 is calculated and disseminated real-time at 2-second intervals during the trading
hours when the Hong Kong and/or Mainland stock markets are open.

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2 Management Responsibility
Hang Seng Indexes Company Ltd (“HSIL”)

2.1 HSIL is responsible for conducting regular reviews in accordance with the Index Methodology.

2.2 HSIL is responsible for monitoring company announcements and making ad hoc proposals –
which must be approved by the Chairman of the HSI Advisory Committee – if constituent
changes between the regular reviews are needed.

2.3 HSIL is responsible for seeking the HSI Advisory Committee’s endorsement of any special
action in cases where, due to exceptional circumstances, an index review is not conducted
according to the Index Methodology.

2.4 HSIL is responsible for seeking the HSI Advisory Committee’s endorsement of changes to the
Index Methodology.

HSI Advisory Committee

2.5 The Committee is responsible for ensuring index reviews are undertaken in accordance with
the Index Methodology.

2.6 The Committee is responsible for reviewing any actions proposed by HSIL in the event that,
due to exceptional circumstances, an index review is not conducted according to the Index
Methodology.

2.7 The Committee is responsible for reviewing and endorsing all changes to the Index
Methodology as proposed by HSIL.

2.8 The Committee is responsible for giving advice on any issues related to the Index
Methodology.

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3 Constituent Eligibility
Universe

3.1 The universe for the HSC50 (“Universe”) includes constituents of the Hang Seng Composite
Index, and companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (“SSE”) and the Shenzhen
Stock Exchange (“SZSE”).

Eligible Companies

3.2 A company is eligible if either its Hong Kong-listed shares or Mainland-listed shares have
fulfilled the following eligibility criteria.

Hong Kong-listed shares

3.3 Hong Kong-listed shares should be constituents of Hang Seng China (Hong Kong-listed) 100
Index (“HSCHK100”).

Mainland-listed shares

3.4 Mainland-listed A-shares should be on the A300 List as described in 3.5 below.

3.5 The A300 List is formed as follows:

a) It is derived from all the A-shares listed in the Mainland market.
b) It ranks according to the average A-share month-end market value (“MV”) of the past
12 months (“12-month average A-share MV”).
c) It excludes A-shares that:
i. rank in the lowest 10th percentile in terms of total market turnover over the past
12-month period;
ii. are classified as ST/*ST shares or S-shares; or
iii. have been suspended for more than one month as of the end of the review
period (for non-existing constituents only).
d) The top 300 A-shares ranked in terms of 12-month average A-share MV after
exclusions detailed in (c) will form the A300 List.

Constituent Company Selection

3.6 The total MV of all classes of shares (including unlisted portion) of eligible companies will be
used for ranking.

Note: The estimated price for any unlisted share is the average price weighted by number of
each class of listed shares. For “AH” companies, the PA and PH in the below formula will be
adjusted to the same currency for calculation.

P A  No.of A - share  P H  No.of H - share

Price for unlisted share 
No. of A - share  No. of H - share

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3 Constituent Eligibility
3.7 The total MV of a company refers to the average of the past 12 month-ends of any review
period. For those companies with a listing history of less than 12 months, the total MV refers to
the average of the past month-ends since the company made its listing debut.

3.8 The 50 companies with the highest rank based on total MV will be selected as constituents of
the HSC50.

Special Treatment for “AR” Companies

3.9 An “AR” Company is defined as a Red-chip that is listed on the SEHK but that also has an
A-share listing on a Mainland stock market, which can be in the form of two companies and is
therefore different from “AH” Company.

3.10 China Unicom was an example of “AR” Company. China Unicom “A” (600050.SS) is the
holding company of China Unicom “R” (0762.HK), which wholly owns the subsidiaries
engaging in telecommunications business and does not have other businesses.

3.11 Note: An “AH” Company is one company issuing two classes of shares, while an “AR”
Company can be in the form of two different companies where one is the holding company of
the other.

3.12 For “AR” Company, the following rules on its selection as constituent will be applied:

(a) in index reviews, the two stocks will be ranked separately by their respective full MV;
(b) either the “A”-class company or the “R”-class company can be selected as a
constituent, and the inclusion of one company would not lead to the automatic
selection of the other company;
(c) if both “A” and “R”-class companies are selected as constituents, they will only take
one constituent space in the index.

Number of Constituents

3.13 The number of constituents is fixed at 50.

3.14 If a company has both A-shares and HK-listed shares, both classes of shares will be included
in the HSC50.

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4 Index Review and Constituent Changes

Regular Half-yearly Review

4.1 HSIL undertakes regular half-yearly reviews of constituents of the HSC50 with data cut-off
dates of the end of June and the end of December each year.

4.2 Half-yearly reviews are normally completed within eight weeks after the end of June and
December.

4.3 The reviews are based on the reviewed HSCHK100 and the A300 List.

Note: In regular reviews, the A300 List is reviewed half-yearly according to 3.5, and any
stocks with an A-share MV rank that falls below the top 360 will be removed, while
stocks ranking 240th or above will be included in the A300 List.

4.4 Eligible candidates will be selected as constituents of the HSC50 if they satisfy the
requirements of 3.6-3.8.

Buffer Zone

4.5 Existing constituent companies ranked lower than 60th will be removed from the HSC50, while
non-constituent companies ranked 40th or above will be included. If the number of incoming
companies is greater than the number of outgoing constituent companies, constituent
companies with the lowest MV rank will be removed from the index in order to maintain the
number of constituent companies at 50. If the number of incoming companies is smaller than
the number of outgoing constituent companies, companies with the highest rank will be added
to the index in order to maintain the number of constituent companies at 50.

Reserve List

4.6 The five non-constituent companies with the highest-ranking by MV will fall into a Reserve List.
The purpose of the Reserve List is to replace any outgoing constituent company between
regular reviews in cases where a constituent company may be removed due to stock
suspension or delisting.

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4 Index Review and Constituent Changes
Effective Date

4.7 Effective dates of constituent changes will be the next trading day after the first Friday of March
and September each year. If that Friday falls on a public holiday in either Hong Kong or the
Mainland, it will be postponed to the next Friday, subject to the final decision made by HSIL.
Under normal circumstances, five trading days’ notice (days when both Hong Kong and
Mainland stock markets are open) will be given for any constituent changes before the effective
dates.

ST/*ST Treatment
4.8 If the A-shares of a constituent company have been classified as ST/*ST stocks, the company
will be removed from the index and a replacement will be identified from the Reserve List. The
effective date will be the next trading day after the first Friday of the following month. If that
Friday falls on a public holiday in either Hong Kong or the Mainland, it will be postponed to the
next Friday, subject to the final decision made by HSIL.

Trading Suspension
4.9 Any constituent company that has been suspended from trading 1) due to bankruptcy /
regulatory investigation, OR 2) for three months will be removed from the index and replaced
as soon as possible by the highest ranked candidate on the latest Reserve List. Such
constituent company may be retained in the index only in exceptional circumstances if it is
believed that its shares are highly likely to resume trading in the near future. Please refer to the
Index Operation Guide for details.

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5 Index Calculation
5.1 The HSC50 is freefloat-adjusted MV weighted with a 10% cap on individual companies.

5.2 The formula is set out below:

n m

 (P
1
j
i ,t   IS i j  FAFi j  CFi )
i 1 j 1 FX t j
Current Index  n m
 Yesterday' s Closing Index

1
(Pi ,jt 1   IS i j  FAFi j  CFi )
i 1 j 1 FX t j1

Pij,t = Price of j-class shares of Company i at time t

(j-class: A-shares & HK-listed shares)
ISij = Total issued j-class shares of Company i
j
FAFi = Freefloat-adjusted factor of j-class shares of Company i
CFi = Capping Factor on Company i
j Foreign Exchange Rate of a traded currency of j-class shares vs. USD at
FXt =
time t

5.3 The HSC50 is a price index without adjustment for cash dividends or warrant bonuses.

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6 Index Rebalancing
6.1 The following provides the general principles for index rebalancing. Please refer to the Index
Operation Guide for details about corporate actions adjustments and index rebalancing.

Frequency and Schedule

6.2 The adjustment of the freefloat-adjusted factors (“FAFs”), the calculation of the capping factors
(“CFs”) and the update of issued shares (“IS”) will be undertaken quarterly.

6.3 The regular rebalancing is usually implemented after market close on the first Friday of March,
June, September and December, and comes into effect on the next trading day.

6.4 The schedule for regular index rebalancing is available on HSIL’s website:
https://www.hsi.com.hk/static/uploads/contents/en/products/is_update.xlsx

Ad Hoc Changes

6.5 IS will be updated simultaneously with the index adjustment for corporate actions such as
bonus issue, rights issue, stock split and stock consolidation.

6.6 Ad hoc rebalancing will be conducted if a constituent’s IS and/ or FAF is substantially different
from the production data.

6.7 The index will also be recapped in the event of constituent changes if the newly added
component has a heavier weighting than the index cap level.

6.8 A minimum notice period of two trading days will be given to subscribers of data products
issued by HSIL for any ad hoc rebalancing.

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7 Dissemination
7.1 The HSC50 is calculated and disseminated in real-time every 2 seconds during trading hours
on each trading day of the Hong Kong or the Mainland China stock markets.

7.2 Please refer to the index dissemination time provided on HSIL’s website for further details:
https://www.hsi.com.hk/static/uploads/contents/en/products/timetable.xlsx

7.3 Vendor codes for the HSC50

Code for
Vendor Code for Price Index
Total Return Index
Bloomberg HSC50 HSC50DV
Thomson Reuters .HSC50 .HSC50DV

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8 Contact Information
Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited

Address : 83 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong

Website: www.hsi.com.hk

E-mail: info@hsi.com.hk

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9 Disclaimer
All information contained herein is provided for reference only. Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited
(“HSIL”) ensures the accuracy and reliability of the above information to the best of its endeavours.
However, HSIL makes no warranty or representation as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of
any of the information contained herein and accepts no liability (whether in tort or contract or otherwise)
whatsoever to any person for any damage or loss of any nature arising from or as a result of reliance
on any of the contents of this document, or any errors or omissions in its contents and such contents
may change from time to time without notice.

The information contained in this document is not intended to provide professional advice and should
not be relied upon in that regard. Persons intending to use any information obtained from this
document are advised to obtain appropriate professional advice.

© Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited 2019. All rights reserved.

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