The CFA Institute, a global association of investment professionals, is mulling over rolling out a new investment certificate localized for the Chinese market in the next one or two years.

This localized effort, unique to the Chinese market, highlights the institute's growing commitment to the region, according to Zhang Yi, country head of CFA Institute in China.

Being developed in collaboration with a local partner, the new certificate will feature localized content that reflects the essentials and changes of China's financial regulatory environment while providing an international perspective of the investment industry, Zhang said.

The new certificate will be an entry-level one tailored to those who desire foundational knowledge about the investment industry, including university students and financial practitioners in China, he said.

"The CFA Institute has always considered the Chinese market as an extremely important one with tremendous potential," Zhang said. "Our investments here, including the development of localized content, are a testament to this. Such an effort is so far not seen in any other region."

According to Zhang, the new certificate has no direct link with the CFA Program — which grants the well-recognized Chartered Financial Analyst charter — and is not intended to replace the CFA Level I Exam or compete with existing domestic financial qualification certificates.

"Our aim is to meet the strong demand for foundational investment knowledge in China," Zhang said, adding that the institute, together with its partner, may announce more details about the new certificate, including more specific timelines, in the fourth quarter of the year.

The forthcoming new certificate is a reflection of the institute's commitment in China as an increasingly important market, where the number of CFA charter-holders has seen double-digit growth in recent years and reached about 10,000, compared with the global total number of nearly 200,000.

"There is no doubt that we are scaling up investment and personnel in China," said Zhang, who believes the country's financial opening-up, the fast development of the capital market and the trend of enhancing the quality of financial professionals have provided the institute with abundant development potential.

Dedicated to developing high-end financial professionals with an international perspective, the institute is particularly upbeat about the opportunity of bridging the talent gap in China of financial professionals with expertise in ESG investing — incorporating environmental, social and governance factors into investment decisions — as well as emerging technologies such as big data, he said.