China to expand foreign investor program 

(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) China's securities regulators are considering speeding up Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) approvals and facilitating the operation of the QFII program to attract more long-term overseas investment, Chinese state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Authorities have hastened QFII approvals and lowered the QFII threshold since the beginning of the year to support the development of the domestic capital market, an official from the China Securities Regulatory Commission was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

The QFII program allows overseas brokerage companies, fund houses and trust firms to invest in Chinese capital markets.

Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) received China's QFII status in December last year, becoming the second qualified Middle Eastern fund after Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

China has granted QFII licenses to 192 foreign firms since the program started in 2002, with approval to 57 new foreign investors this year, the report said. 82 percent of the 192 QFIIs are long-term investors, including asset management companies, insurers and pension funds, according to official data.

China has taken steps to attract more long-term funds. In April, the commission raised the investment ceiling for QFIIs to USD 80 billion from USD 30 billion.

In July, China eased its investment controls on QFIIs, allowing them to enter the interbank bond market.