China further eases foreign access to domestic capital market

BEIJING -- China has further opened up its domestic capital market to foreign investors by introducing revised rules for the country's major inbound investment schemes.

Foreign investors will enjoy easier market access and broader investment scope when investing via the dollar-denominated Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) and the yuan-denominated Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) schemes, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

The new rules, published by the CSRC, together with the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, have combined the previous two separate sets of regulation for the QFII and RQFII schemes into one, lowering entry requirements and simplifying procedures to facilitate foreign investment.

The new rules, set to become effective on Nov. 1, will allow foreign investment into more areas such as stocks listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, financial futures and private investment funds, said the CSRC.

The rule revision would also enhance regulation including cross-market and cross-border regulation and strengthen punishment for irregularities, it said.

The QFII and RQFII programs, introduced in 2003 and 2011, respectively, allow overseas institutional investors to move money into China's capital account to encourage controlled flows.

In a bid to further open up the financial market, China scraped quota restrictions on the QFII and RQFII schemes earlier this year.