Curbs off to allow more funds into RQFII

CHINA will lift investment curbs on its financial market to allow more foreign investors to participate.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission will permit more financial institutions into the "Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor" program so that they can launch more offshore yuan holdings in the domestic capital market. The market widely anticipates that details of the next huge tranche of RQFII quota will be unveiled in the first quarter this year.

Investors from Taiwan are also likely to get the green light to participate in the Chinese mainland's stock market.

China will also scrap the 20 percent equity investments by foreign investors to boost the domestic stock market, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. Previously each RQFII investor needed to invest at least 80 percent of their funds in the onshore bond market with the rest going to stocks. The scrapping of the 20 percent equity investment suggests the CSRC is willing to give more autonomy to offshore investors and also signals China's intention to enhance the yuan's status in global financial markets.

The RQFII scheme was launched with an initial quota of 20 billion yuan (US$3.2 billion) at the end of 2011, which later grew to 70 billion yuan.

Guo Shuqing, chairman of the CSRC, had said the RQFII quota would grow 10 times in the future, without elaborating who would be allocated or what other products the funds could invest in.

We recommend:
New vehicles unveiled at Canadian Int'l Auto Show	Video: Facebook targeted by hackers	Sanya duty-free shops see surging sales
Juniper buries doubts on boom	3D printing reshapes manufacturing	Hongyanhe nuclear power station in NE China