$4.25b quota for foreign investors approved

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange approved a combined quota of 26.1 billion yuan ($4.25 billion) for applicant projects under programs of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) and Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) on July 26, a circular on the regulator's official website said.

The circular dated July 31 said that by the end of July, total approved quota for QFII reached $44.95 billion, and quota for RQFII increased to 121.9 billion yuan.

Analysts said mounting quotas for QFII and RQFII shows foreign investors' increasing interest in China's A-share market, and the money injected will help the recovery of China's sluggish stock market.

SAFE announced on July 12 that the regulator will expand total quota of QFII to $150 billion, and also expand pilot areas of the program.

Expansion of quota for QFII and RQFII programs is part of China's capital market opening up, analysts said.

China's capital market may benefit from QFII and RQFII in terms of learning from their foreign counterparts’ investment strategies, analysts said.