The investment quota allowed to China's qualified domestic institutional investors (QDII) has reached US$42.17 billion by the end of September, statistics from the country's forex watchdog shows.

 

A total investment of US$10.86 billion has already been made in overseas markets by the end of September, according to Li Dongrong, deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), which sanctions the quota.

 

The QDII scheme, launched in last July, allows mainland institutions and residents to entrust mainland commercial banks to invest in overseas financial products, and allows insurance institutions to invest some of their assets in overseas fixed-income products and monetary market products.

 

Li said the QDII program offers more channels of investment for mainland residents, who are not allowed to directly invest in overseas markets, and has become an effective channel for them to decentralize risks.

 

He said the administration would continue to promote the QDII program steadily, and vowed to strengthen supervision.

 

So far, 21 commercial banks, including both Chinese and foreign banks like HSBC China, Deutsche Bank, the Agriculture Bank of China and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, have been allowed a combined quota of US$16.1 billion.

 

Another five fund management firms, such as China Asset Management Corp, enjoy a combined investment quota of US$19.5 billion, while 14 insurance companies, including Ping An of China and China Life Insurance, hold the remaining US$6.57 billion.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2007)