This seems to be half of the answer:
August 13, 2007
MON
13
AUG
Stock index futures
By Michael Pettis
From today's South China Morning Post:
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is poised to allow trading in the mainland's first equity-based derivatives - likely to be stock index futures contracts based on the Shanghai-Shenzhen 300 Index as early as next month. The move was expected after the investor watchdog issued licences this month to more than 40 brokerages to trade on the China Financial Futures Exchange, established in Shanghai in September last year.
Not a good idea, I think. The main problem with the Chinese capital markets is not that they lack hedging tools, sophisticated instruments, or even good financial data (which they do lack). It is that the investor base is completely unbalanced. There is no way for fundamental investors or arbitrageurs to act profitably, but on the other hand there is plenty of useful information for speculators (insider activity, government intervention, fraud, sudden regulatory changes, etc.).
As a result, this is a wholly speculative market and for all the talk it hasn't changed much in the six years I have been here. Giving a wholly speculative market derivative instruments that multiply leverage will only add unnecessary volatility to the market.
On the other hand, for those who are long B-shares (full disclosure: such as me), this is a great thing. B-shares are so cheap relative to their A-share equivalents (more than 30% discount) that it makes sense for foreign investors to buy B-shares and short the index. Of course there will be tons of tracking error, but with a 50% return to convergence, what's a little tracking error?