CSRC plans RQFII expansion

BEIJING - China's securities regulator said Friday that it is drafting new rules to further expand the renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme and make it easier for Chinese mainland enterprises to go public in Hong Kong.

A spokesman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission said that it is actively coordinating with relevant government departments to raise the RQFII investment quota and loosen restrictions to allow more institutions to apply for exchange-traded-fund products under a pilot scheme.

The CSRC statement came after a request from authorities in Hong Kong who sought to raise quotas under the RQFII pilot scheme by 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) to 200 billion yuan.

China launched the RQFII scheme in December 2011 to allow a maximum of 20 billion yuan worth of ETFs raised offshore to be invested in the domestic capital market. The investment quota was later increased by 50 billion yuan.

As the world's largest offshore yuan trading center, Hong Kong currently contributes to most of the RQFII funds.