Lower Fees, Bigger Gains: How China's ETF Fee Reform Is Putting Money Back in Investors' Pockets

China's ETF market is undergoing a major transformation, with total assets hitting a record 6 trillion yuan by the end of 2025—a 60.5% surge from the start of the year. At the same time, costs for investors have fallen significantly, due to industry-wide fee reductions. According to Wind Data, as of December 31, 2025, over 370 of the nearly 1,400 ETFs available in China now charge a combined management and custodian fee of just 0.2% per year (typically 0.15% + 0.05%). That puts the average fee level in China's ETF market almost on par with the US, ushering in a new age of low-cost index investing.