September 2, 2026 (InvestinChina.asia) — Shenzhen Securities Information Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, said Monday it will launch the ChiNext Chip Index (code: 970096) on September 4, creating the first dedicated benchmark for the semiconductor value chain listed on China’s growth-enterprise board.
The index tracks the stock-price performance of chip-related companies on the ChiNext board. From the universe of ChiNext stocks whose core businesses span semiconductor materials and equipment, chip design, chip manufacturing, and packaging and testing, the 50 largest by average daily market capitalization over the trailing six months are selected as index constituents, according to the official announcement published by CNI Index, the index arm of Shenzhen Securities Information.
The debut puts a quantitative标尺 on a sector that has quietly grown into one of ChiNext’s heaviest weightings. Companies related to chips on the board now carry a combined market capitalization of roughly 1.4 trillion yuan, making chips the single largest of the three thematic tracks that Shenzhen is formalizing this week. For comparison, ChiNext-listed industrial machinery and AI-application companies have aggregate market caps of about 900 billion yuan and 800 billion yuan, respectively.
Representative names flagged in the index methodology include Changchuan Technology, a semiconductor test-equipment maker; SG Micro Corp., an analog-chip designer; and Beijing Ingenic, which develops processor and memory chips. The index covers the full chip value chain — from design and materials to manufacturing and packaging — rather than concentrating on any single sub-segment.
The launch is the latest expansion of the “ChiNext Series” of indices. Shenzhen Securities Information has rolled out dedicated benchmarks for AI applications and industrial machinery alongside the chip index, extending a product family that already spans broad-based, sector-thematic and strategy indices. Assets under management in exchange-traded funds and other products tracking ChiNext Series indices have exceeded 200 billion yuan, making them one of the primary vehicles through which investors gain exposure to China’s most innovative listed companies.
The arrival of a dedicated chip index is widely seen as a prerequisite for launching thematic ETFs and index funds focused exclusively on ChiNext-listed semiconductor names. Such passive-investment products, once brought to market, could channel fresh allocation into the 50 constituent stocks. The methodology calls for semi-annual rebalancing, allowing newly emerging companies to enter the sample as their market caps rise while those that shrink or drift from core chip operations are removed.
Until the index goes live on September 4, the official list of 50 constituents will not be published. Market participants can access the full methodology, sample list and historical simulated performance via the CNI Index website at www.cnindex.com.cn.
The move comes as chip equities have become one of the most closely watched corners of the A-share market. Against the backdrop of surging demand for AI computing power and a sustained domestic substitution cycle in semiconductors, the formation of a standalone index provides fund managers with a transparent, rules-based tool to capture the performance of ChiNext’s chip leaders — distinct from existing benchmarks such as the CNI Chip Index, which tracks 30 leading chip stocks across the entire A-share market, and the Star Market Chip Index, which is confined to the Shanghai STAR Market.
By carving out a pure-play ChiNext chip benchmark, Shenzhen is effectively telling the market that the board’s semiconductor cohort has matured from a collection of peripheral concept stocks into a coherent, investable asset class in its own right.