HONG KONG, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region overtook South Korea and Japan to become the world's third largest exchange-traded product (ETP) market by turnover by the end of the third quarter, data from the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) showed on Tuesday.

By the end of September, the average daily turnover of ETPs stood at 37.8 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.86 billion U.S. dollars), up 146 percent year on year, the data showed.

The increased popularity of tech-themed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), notably flagship Hang Seng Tech Index ETPs, has significantly contributed to this uptick, and so have robust flows into eligible ETFs via the Southbound channel of the mutual market access program Stock Connect, said the HKEX in an article on its website.

In the first nine months of this year, 14 tech-themed ETFs are listed in Hong Kong. Their assets under management totaled 120.1 billion Hong Kong dollars, up 102 percent year on year, according to the HKEX. ■