(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-27 15:31

China AMC, one of China's leading asset management companies, announced on Wednesday that it will issue US$4 billion worth of funds in China on Thursday.

The fund limit given to the Beijing-based company had risen by US$1.5 billion in three days, according to a company statement released on Sunday.

China AMC said it was applying for more quota to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, but gave no further details on the last-minute fund limit jump.

The fund, to be launched in RMB, would invest in selected shares in overseas stock markets, including in the United States, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and other emerging countries and regions, said the company.

At least 60 percent of the fund would go to equity securities like stocks and about 30 percent would be invested in Hong Kong shares.

Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors, or QDIIs, serve to ease the appreciation pressure on the yuan. Designed to help reduce China's excessive liquidity, the QDIIs had long been deterred from overseas investment by China's rebounding stock markets and high investment threshold.

China's banks only used 26 percent of the 50-billion-yuan quota granted to QDIIs in the first half, according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).

The government is considering expanding the investment area and lowering the minimum investment for QDII products.

For example, stock investment business of China's banking QDIIs would likely expand to New York and London stock markets from Hong Kong, according to a senior CBRC official.

Meanwhile, the threshold of QDII products was like to be lowered from 300,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan, said the CBRC official.

China AMC, with T. Rowe Price Group as its consultant, has appointed more than 40 professionals for its overseas investment.

The T. Rowe Price Group, one of the largest U.S. independent asset management companies, manages about US$380 billion of assets.

The first stock-oriented QDII fund, launched by the China Southern Fund Management Co Ltd on September 12, raised almost 50 billion yuan, far beyond its scheduled limit of 15 billion yuan.

China might experience a QDII fund sales peak as China AMC, Harvest Fund Management and China International Fund Management launch QDII products and other fund firms receive launch approval.