China increases foreign investment quota

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said it will more than triple the amount of funds foreign investors can invest in China’s stock and bond markets, The Wall Street Journal reported. The CSRC raised the total amount foreigners can bring into China through the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program from US$24.55 billion to US$80 billion, with individual quotas yet to be allocated to investors. In a separate statement, the commission increased the yuan repatriation quota for foreign fund managers to US$11.1 billion (RMB70 billion) from only US$3.18 billion (RMB20 billion), but the additional RMB50 billion is designated solely for Hong Kong exchange-traded funds. The QFII program was launched in 2002, with UBS AG (UBS.NYSE) winning the first quota in 2003. CSRC previously granted only US$24.55 billion in individually-approved quotas out of a total US$30 billion in funds. Unnamed sources said that last month that investment funds and regulators were in talks over the expansion of QFII.