The moment to buy Chinese A-shares is almost at hand. The world’s investors have deputed this decision to MSCI, the indexing company that compiles the most widely used emerging markets benchmark, and next month A-shares will begin to take their place.

We now have the final details on how the process of including A-shares in the MSCI Emerging Markets index will unfold. The process starts with the inclusion of 234 large-cap A-shares, carefully vetted for their liquidity, next month. Stocks that have had an undue number of trading suspensions, a key reason behind MSCI’s delays in including A-shares, will have to wait further.

China’s stocks will be included at a far lighter weight than their market value. To start with, they count for only 5 per cent of market cap, and will be only 0.78 per cent of the index. But while this is not as yet a huge macroeconomic deal, it is the start of a hugely important process — and it is now that institutional investors must decide on their strategies for building exposures to China.