It took quite some time to pull out the key index returns of A-shares, H-shares, and US stocks over the past 20 years, and present them visually with charts for easy benchmarking and reference.

This time, I selected 10 representative indices — the CSI All Share Index, Shanghai and Shenzhen 300, CSI 500, CSI 1000, and ChiNext Index for A-shares; Hang Seng Index and Hang Seng Tech Index for Hong Kong stocks; S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 for US stocks. These basically cover the market panorama of different sizes and styles across the three regions, helping us understand the current market situation.

First, about data standards: A-shares use total return indices (including dividends), while H-shares and US stocks use price indices due to data source limitations, which may cause slight deviations. Additionally, the CSI Dividend Index changed its weighting method from market capitalization to dividend yield in 2014, so data before 2014 is for reference only.

Looking at the past 20 years, who has ranked first the most times? NASDAQ leads with 5 times, ChiNext Index 4 times, Hang Seng Tech 3 times, CSI Dividend and S&P 500 each 2 times. Conversely, the indices with the lowest rankings include Hang Seng Index, which was "pitched" 3 times, Hang Seng Tech 2 times, ChiNext and CSI 1000 each 2 times, NASDAQ and CSI Dividend once each.

Focusing solely on index performance — the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300, as the benchmark for A-shares, mostly stay in the middle tier, steady but not outstanding over 20 years; the Hong Kong market has been sluggish for a long time, although Hang Seng Tech has fluctuated greatly and reached high levels in some years; on the US side, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ show clear divergence, with NASDAQ dominating in good tech cycle years but underperforming during traditional industry rotations.