(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-10 15:16

Chinese fund management joint ventures of Credit Suisse and DBS said on Wednesday that they have obtained approval from China's securities regulator to invest clients' money overseas.

The approvals bring to eight the number of fund management firms that have won permission to invest under China's Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme.

"Our firm will help domestic investors to explore investment opportunities in global markets so that they can diversify their investment risks," Yang Kaisheng, chairman of ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management Co, said in an e-mailed statement.

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The planned QDII fund of ICBC Credit Suisse will mainly target two types of stocks: Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong markets, and foreign firms which may benefit from China's economic growth, Yang said.

ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management is a joint venture between Credit Suisse and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest bank.

Changsheng Fund Management Co, partly owned by Singapore's DBS Group Holdings, aims to raise about $5 billion from its first QDII fund, which it expects to launch by the end of this year, a source familiar with the situation said.

Since last month, three firms have launched overseas stock funds that have drawn strong interest from investors, who are eager to diversify their portfolios amid concerns about risks in the high-flying domestic stock market.

On Tuesday, Harvest Fund Management, 20 percent owned by Deutsche Bank, raised $4 billion for its global stock investment fund on the first day of issue, well ahead of schedule .

Mandy Wang, chief executive of China International Fund Management Co, a Shanghai-based joint venture with JPMorgan, said on Tuesday that the company expected to sell its first QDII fund next week.

Other fund management joint ventures and domestic fund managers, including Invesco Great Wall Fund Management Co, which is 49 percent owned by Invesco Plc, are also queueing to get QDII licences from Chinese regulators.