China to facilitate foreign investors investing in domestic securities

SHANGHAI -- China will simplify and improve fund management for the dollar-denominated Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme (QFII) and its yuan-denominated sibling, RQFII, Zhu Hexin, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, said on Wednesday.

The QFII and RQFII programs are designed to allow overseas investors to invest in China's domestic capital markets.

"We are revising relevant fund management regulations," said Zhu, who is also the head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, at the ongoing Lujiazui Forum held in Shanghai. Zhu called for efforts to facilitate foreign investors' participation in domestic securities investment and promote financial market connectivity.

He added that China will also support domestic institutions in making cross-border investments.

To meet the reasonable demand of domestic residents for overseas investment, China recently granted quotas totaling $2.27 billion to 53 institutions under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) program, which enables Chinese investors to access foreign assets.

Zhu also urged efforts to support multinationals in establishing global or regional fund management centers in Shanghai, promote the cross-border investment business of equity investment funds, support the China Foreign Exchange Trade System in enhancing financial infrastructure functions and relevant services, and support Shanghai in building a high-level international financial assets trading platform.

To further boost China's financial market, Zhu underscored the need to leverage Shanghai's leading role in promoting China's financial opening up.

Shanghai has become the city with the highest concentration of foreign financial institutions in China, he said, noting that China has supported 163 multinationals in establishing fund pools in the city.

Efforts should be made to replicate and promote Shanghai's high-level opening-up policies to the Yangtze River Delta and even the whole country, to achieve greater breakthroughs in the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and forge new advantages for an open economy at a higher level, Zhu said.