China accelerates opening up of QFII process

Six overseas institutions were allowed to become Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors, or QFII, in December 2012, bringing the total number of QFII in China to 207, according to a list released by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Jan 15.

In 2012, the CSRC approved the applications of 72 foreign institutional investors to become QFII in China.

QFII are licensed foreign investors that can buy and sell yuan-denominated A-shares in China's mainland stock exchanges.

As many as eight QFII applications worth a total of $1.4 billion were approved in December 2012, and as many as 169 QFII were given a total investment quota of $37.44 billion by the end of 2012 since QFII quotas were launched in 2003, according to data of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

In 2012 alone, China awarded some $16 billion in quotas for QFII.

QFII opened 116 A-share market accounts between January and December 2012, bringing the total number of A-share accounts of QFII to 355.

China can increase 10 times the current level of investment quotas for Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investment, or RQFII, and QFII, said Guo Shuqing, chairman of the CSRC on Jan 14.