UK bourse deal may 'accelerate Chinese bonds inclusion'

London Stock Exchange's acquisition of Citigroup's fixed income analytics unit may accelerate the inclusion of Chinese bonds on Citi's main bond indexes, analysts in London said on Tuesday after LSE announced the $685 million purchase.

"It will push the index inclusion forward, because business with China will be a bigger part of the LSE's business than it will be as part of Citi's business," said Jan Dehn, head of research at London-based Ashmore Investment Management.

Currently, China's $7 trillion interbank bond market is the third-biggest in the world, but foreign ownership is less than two percent, much lower than other key emerging markets' average of 20 to 30 percent.