JPMorgan to include Chinese bonds in benchmark indexes

US financial group JPMorgan Chase & Co announced on Wednesday it would include Chinese government bonds in its benchmark emerging-market indexes, following its annual index review.

China's weight will be capped at 10 percent of the Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets global diversified and narrow diversified indexes, the group said in a statement.

The inclusion will be phased in over a 10-month period starting Feb 28, 2020, and nine eligible local government bonds will be included, according to the statement.

"China has made significant progress over the past three years in terms of market development and now meets all of the index inclusion rules," said Gloria Kim, Global Head of Index Research at JPMorgan.

"Its domestic market is now accessible and tradable for the global investor base, which makes it eligible for inclusion. China's inclusion in the GBI-EM Global Diversified benchmarks is reflective of market demand and replicable for dedicated index managers," Kim said.

The announcement will attract more overseas capital flowing into the world's second-largest bond market, analysts said.

It may lead to about $3 billion of inflows into China's bond market a month, according to research from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Mark Leung, Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan China, said "The inclusion represents an important milestone, as China continues to liberalize its capital markets and looks to connect more global investors to the country."

In April, Bloomberg Barclays added Chinese bonds to its global benchmark. FTSE Russell also scheduled an announcement on its decision regarding its World Government Bond Index for Sep 26.