Ping An Insurance (Group) was the only company added to the Hang Seng Index by the compiler in yesterday's quarterly review.
The addition of the country's second-largest life insurer reflected the rising importance of mainland companies on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
HSI Services announced after the market close yesterday that Ping An would become the 39th member of the blue-chip index on June 4 with a weighting of 1.14 per cent.
The inclusion of Ping An has long been expected, given that it made its entire equity tradable when it listed in Shanghai last month and that its market value ranked within the top 50 largest Hong Kong-listed stocks, meeting all of the index compiler's selection criteria.
Ping An's shares retreated 2.84 per cent to HK$44.45 yesterday. Analysts said the widely anticipated inclusion on the index would not provide the stock with any additional momentum next week.
China Overseas Land & Investment and Bank of Communications were also considered likely additions.
Ping An is the sixth H share to be selected, following the inclusion of China Life Insurance, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank Corp, Bank of China and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp from June last year when the compiler amended its criteria to allow the inclusion of H-share firms that have completed share reforms. Previously, the only mainland companies considered for inclusion were those incorporated outside the country, known as red chips.