For those who are just starting to take an interest in investing in the Chinese market, the first confusion they often encounter is this: there are so many indices to choose from—what exactly are they, and which ones should you follow? The Chinese stock market is truly enormous. Even just the Shanghai stock market alone ranks as the 4th largest in the world by market value. But it’s precisely this complexity that leaves many investors feeling irritated.

Let’s first get familiar with the market structure. In most cases, investing in Chinese stocks takes place across two main exchanges: the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), the largest market in mainland China, and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), which is the second largest. In each of these markets, stocks are divided into different categories: A-Share (open to foreign investors to trade through special channels), B-Share (for foreigners, traded in USD or HKD), and H-Share (traded in Hong Kong and abroad).

Once you understand the structure, an important helper for tracking the Chinese stock market is the various indices—these index numbers are designed to reflect the movements of groups of Chinese stocks from different viewpoints. Each index has a different calculation method and purpose.

Let’s start with an index created by Chinese organizations themselves: the CSI 300. It captures the movement of 300 large- and mid-cap stocks from both markets combined. It’s widely viewed as a representative of the overall Chinese market. For example, Ping An Insurance, China Minsheng Bank, Kweichow Moutai, and so on.

If you want to look only at the largest blue-chip stocks with the highest liquidity, SSE 50 is a good option. It selects only the best 50 A-Share stocks from the Shanghai market. Meanwhile, SZSE 100 is used to track 100 stocks from the Shenzhen market, which often include technology companies and high-growth startups.

But if you’re a foreign investor and want a China index that’s designed to be easier to use, FTSE A50 is an option. It selects 50 stocks with good returns from both markets, and it serves as a standard benchmark that international investors use frequently. As for MSCI CHINA, it covers even more—it includes more than 700 Chinese stocks and covers about 85% of the market. That makes it a good choice if you want a comprehensive view of the Chinese market.

In summary, whether it’s an index created by China itself, or a China index created by international financial institutions such as FTSE and MSCI, all of these are useful tools for tracking the movements of the Chinese stock market from different perspectives—depending on whether you want to see the overall picture or just a specific portion of the market.