China to relax control over QDII, QFII

BEIJING - China has signaled it will relax control over Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors (QDII) and Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) in a showcase of its determination to speed up the yuan's convertibility under the capital account.

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The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said Wednesday in its 2013 annual report that it will further expand the group of institutional investors under the QDII and QFII programs and raise their investment quotas.

"When the situation becomes ripe, the country will cancel the approval on qualifications and quotas to let all legitimate institutions at home and abroad enjoy investment opportunities," the report said.

China launched the QFII program in 2002 to allow licensed foreign investors to use offshore yuan to invest in China's capital market. Currently, 229 institutions are included in the program with a combined investment quota of $150 billion.

The QDII program was launched in 2006 to allow domestic institutions to invest abroad. More than 100 institutions are qualified at present with a combined quota of $76.79 billion.

Guo Tianyong, a professor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said the central bank's decision to gradually cancel the approval signaled its determination to make the yuan convertible under the capital account.

"It shows that the process of making the yuan convertible will be accelerated in the future," Guo said.

The central bank did not give a timetable for any changes in the QDII and QFII programs.