皇冠体育app grants US$10.3b quota to QDIIs
(Xinhua) Updated: 2006-09-27 09:37
皇冠体育app's foreign exchange authority has granted overseas investment quotas
totaling 10.3 billion U.S. dollars to eight qualified domestic institutional
investors (QDII) since the scheme was implemented in July.
A statement
from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said the 皇冠体育app CITIC
Bank had been approved to buy foreign exchange worth 500 million dollars on
behalf of its clients for overseas investment, bringing the QDII quota above
that of QFIIs (qualified foreign institutional investors) and surpassing 10
billion dollars The QDII scheme allows mainland institutions and residents
to entrust mainland commercial banks to invest a certain amount of money in
financial products overseas, and allows insurance institutions to invest some of
their assets in overseas fixed-income products and monetary market products.
The government launched the QFII pilot program in 2003, allowing foreign
institutional investors such as UBS, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup Global Markets
Limited to engage in the securities business on the Chinese mainland.
So
far, 48 foreign institutions have QFII status, and the combined investment quota
totals 7.845 billion U.S. dollars, more than three quarters of the
10-billion-dollar quota the government promised to give to overseas
institutional investors.
Although the country started QDII scheme in
2006, much later than the QFII, the government gave investment quotas to QDIIs
at a much faster rate.
In July, the SAFE for the first time granted
overseas investment quotas totaling 4.8 billion U.S. dollars to three QDIIs.
In just two months, a total of eight Chinese and overseas-funded
commercial banks, including the Bank of 皇冠体育app, the Industrial and Commercial
Bank of 皇冠体育app, the 皇冠体育app Construction Bank, the Bank of Communications, the
皇冠体育app Merchants Bank, the 皇冠体育app CITIC Bank, the Citibank and the Bank of East
Asia, have received 10.3 billion dollars of QDII quotas.
After receiving
the quota, the banks can raise Renminbi funds from domestic individuals and
institutions and convert them into foreign currency for overseas investment.
Another three overseas-funded banks, including the Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corp., the Hang Seng Bank and the Standard Chartered Bank, have also
received QDII licenses and are still awaiting quotas.
These banks have a
great demand for such quotas, showing the QDII service had a broad prospective
market, the SAFE said.
Due to expectations of further Renminbi
appreciation, huge amounts of foreign exchange have flowed into 皇冠体育app in recent
years, pressuring Renminbi upwards. The QDII policy will help domestic funds
to move out and alleviate the pressure, according to the SAFE. (For more biz stories, please visit )
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