You also cant actually legally own most Chinese stock. IE "internet" stocks. What you can buy is an instrument intended to track them. Its called a VIE.
That Alibaba stock you have? No, its a share from a seperate company setup in the Cayman Islands which should track the Alibaba stock. They are circumventing a Chinese law that makes foreign investment in Chinese companies illegal. It's a bad idea to own these.
That doesn't stop people from trying -- according to Yahoo Finance, FXI (iShares China Large-Cap ETF) was one of the most-traded (by volume) ETFs yesterday.
That Alibaba stock you have? No, its a share from a seperate company setup in the Cayman Islands which should track the Alibaba stock. They are circumventing a Chinese law that makes foreign investment in Chinese companies illegal. It's a bad idea to own these.