China’s burgeoning exchange traded fund industry has been outshone by the explosive growth of domestic active strategies this year, with market participants blaming a persistent lack of knowledge among retail investors and weak product diversity as the key barriers to higher adoption of ETFs.

Only 91 new ETFs had been rolled out in China this year by December 8, a number that only just exceeds the 90 such product launches recorded for 2019, data provided by Morningstar show. Total assets in the onshore ETF market stood at Rmb1.06tn ($162bn).

The modest total for this year is in sharp contrast to the more than 1,200 non-ETF fund launches during the same period. Active equities funds grabbed most of the limelight attracting almost 65 per cent of initial fundraising assets out of a record-breaking Rmb3tn in assets invested across all fund types.