China has granted approval to the first US exchange-traded funds to track mainland stocks, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. The go-ahead was given to two domestic fund managers to sell China ETFs listed in New York, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. These will be the first outside Hong Kong, where global money managers can buy similar products. Until now, the only way for offshore investors to get into China was either by buying Chinese companies listed overseas or to apply for a quota that allowed direct access to the mainland’s markets.