China grants more QFII quotas

BEIJING - Overseas institutions have received more quotas under China's Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program to move money into the country's capital account, according to official data.

A total of 287 overseas institutions had been granted quotas amounting to $100.46 billion under the QFII program as of June 28, up from $99.46 billion a month earlier, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed.

As of June 28, the quotas in the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) program came in at 622.07 billion yuan ($94 billion), up from 615.85 billion yuan a month earlier.

China's currency is convertible for trade purposes under the current account, while the capital account, which covers portfolio investment and borrowing, is largely run by the state in an effort to control capital flows in and out of the country.

To gradually open the capital account, the government introduced the QFII and RQFII programs in 2003 and 2011, respectively. They give foreign investors the right to move money into the account to encourage controlled flows.

Quotas under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor program, a scheme that allows domestic investors to access foreign assets, totalled $103.33 billion, up from $101.5 billion a month earlier.