China has scrapped restrictions on asset allocation of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors, no longer requiring overseas investors to put at least 50 percent of their investment quota into stocks, Deng Ge, a spokesman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission, told a media briefing yesterday. “The move aims to facilitate investment and lure more long-term funds,” Deng said.

The QFII program, launched in 2003, allows foreign investors to directly trade equities and bonds on the mainland market.

China approved US$2.58 billion of quota to QFII investors in September, bringing the total outstanding amount to US$81.74 billion, the foreign exchange regulator said.

China has been relaxing capital controls this year to offer foreign investors more freedom in the domestic market.

In February, China eased QFII rules by allowing foreign investors to invest a base amount linked to their asset size in the domestic market without needing approval and allowing them to move funds in and out of China daily rather than weekly.

Investment quota approval for qualified overseas financial institutions wishing to invest in the country’s interbank bond market has also been scrapped.

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