(Yicai Global) Sept. 25 -- Robotics and automation are the sectors to watch out for on the Chinese mainland's stock markets, according to a foreign investor who has opened an A-share trading account under new rules that permit non-Chinese citizens to buy shares there.

The investor, who came to Shanghai in 2001 and specializes in the financial data sector, is keen to begin trading on the local exchanges straight away, he told state-owned news agency Xinhua. He has already opened an account with Guotai Junan Securities.

China opened its A-share markets to certain foreign investors on Sept. 15, allowing non-citizens working in the country and those employed by mainland-listed companies to trade shares. Eligible investors will still be limited to those from countries whose securities regulators have agreed to partner the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which included 62 countries and territories as of Aug. 16.

A-shares are stocks traded in yuan on the mainland stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Those traded in foreign currencies are known as B-shares.

"Foreigners had few chances to invest in China before, so we transferred the money we made here back to America," he said. "Now we've been given a great development opportunity -- we can work and invest here. We'll be satisfied if we can get yields of 6 percent a year."

More and more overseas capital has been making its way onto the mainland markets, though not many foreign individuals have opened trading accounts yet. Money from the Shanghai- and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect Programs has been on the rise since August, and earlier this month the MSCI Index added more mainland securities and increased its inclusion factor to 5 percent.

The FTSE Group, the world's second-largest stock indexer, will also announce on Sept. 27 Beijing time whether or not it will include mainland shares in its Global Equity Index Series. If accepted, it could bring USD500 billion into the mainland bourses, a trader told Yicai Global.

Another foreign investor, a Japanese citizen named Lin Yangzi, was the first non-Chinese to open a mainland trading account with Everbright Securities' Century Avenue branch in Shanghai. She headed there first thing on Sept. 16 in the hopes of being the first foreign individual to open an A-share trading account, according to Zhang Ning, general manager of the branch.

Lin, a foreign investment consultant who came to Shanghai in 1998, opened a B-share account years and ago and had been eagerly awaiting her chance to get access to the A-share market. She plans to bide her time and start investing when appropriate, she told Xinhua.

Financial products in Japan have low yields, and Lin previously invested in fixed income products from Chinese banks. She plans to remain prudent with her stock investments and is optimistic about the pension industry.