Standard & Poor's on Thursday announced the launch of a new suite of six benchmark indices to enable Chinese institutional investors gain access to overseas equity markets.

With the S&P QDII Indices, domestic Chinese investors, approved and registered under theexpanding Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors (QDII) scheme, will be able to gain access to the robust earnings and economic growth witnessed in Greater China, developed markets in theAsia Pacific region, as well as some other emerging markets and developed countries globally.

Additionally, these indices offer product developers opportunities to create funds and otherinstruments for domestic Chinese investors to invest overseas.

"The QDII scheme is a step taken by the Chinese government to reform China's capital account and to further integrate China's capital markets into the wider global markets," says Richard Zhang, head of Standard & Poor's Index Services in China.

"Standard & Poor's has the largest domestic market share in China of any independent index provider, as well as the most extensive pool of global equity benchmark data. It is natural that we combine the two to assist our mainland clients in the international diversification of their portfolios."

The S&P QDII Indices will allow investors to create international portfolios in combination with their core domestic A-Share holdings.