CQQQ vs GXC

CQQQCInvesco China Technology ETF

GXCAState Street SPDR S&P China ETF

In short

CQQQ The tech sector, minus Silicon Valley. Trading since 2009, CQQQ tracks a FTSE index of Chinese technology companies, roughly 180 of them, instead of the US megacaps that fill almost every other tech fund.

GXC The whole China market in one ticker: roughly 1,400 stocks from megacaps down to small caps, tracked since 2007. Most China funds buy the famous names. GXC buys the phone book.

Stated mandate

CQQQ The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the investment results of the FTSE China Incl A 25% Technology Capped Index.

GXC The fund seeks to provide returns that generally correspond to the total return performance of the S&P China BMI Index.

Why people hold it

• CQQQ One of the original US-listed ways to own Chinese tech as a standalone sleeve: launched in 2009, now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively.
• Roughly 180 holdings spread across the sector, and the index reaches into mainland A-shares, not just the offshore-listed Chinese names most investors already know.
• Undiluted by design: the mandate is Chinese technology only, so the exposure isn't watered down the way it is inside a global tech or broad emerging-markets fund.

• GXC Holds roughly 1,400 names across large, mid and small caps, so the portfolio reaches well past the handful of megacap internet stocks that dominate narrower China funds.ssga.com
• Running since 2007, one of the longest-tenured US-listed China index funds, with a track record covering several full boom and bust cycles in the market.ssga.com
• Tracks the S&P China BMI Index tightly and sits in the upper tier of its single-country China peer group on our review.

Worth knowing

• CQQQ The 0.65% fee sits above the 0.40% median in its broad tech peer group, and well above index giants like VGT and XLK. That is the toll for a harder-to-reach market.
• One country, one sector. Beijing policy shifts, currency moves and listing rules land on this portfolio much more directly than on a US-centric tech fund.
• Cash comes once or twice a year, not monthly or quarterly. This is a growth-sector vehicle, not an income one.

• GXC The 0.59% expense ratio sits at the pricier end of the shelf. Plain index rivals such as FLCH and CXSE charge less for China exposure.
• Volume is light next to the category's biggest China funds, so bid-ask spreads can widen. Limit orders are the usual defense.
• One country, one policy regime: Chinese regulation, politics and currency moves drive the whole ride, and payouts land only once or twice a year.

Full CQQQ profile⁠

Full GXC profile⁠