India small-caps only recently took the lead on the US, with a big jump higher over the last 18 months or so. Small-caps in other countries have been poor options for US investors relative to owning something like the S&P 500 ETF.
Small-cap Chinese stocks are cheap and have broken out of their downtrend, making them a potential opportunity for investors. iShares MSCI China Small-Cap ETF has struggled to keep up with other China ETFs, but may be a good short-term play. Quality metrics show low profitability and stable debt levels in small-cap Chinese equities, while value metrics indicate they are within the value arena but not extremely cheap.