London gains greater RMB quota

Institutional investors in London are looking forward to a larger Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor quota, and are interested in "properly tradable" Chinese shares, said Mark Boleat, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation in Shanghai on Thursday.

Boleat's visit to Shanghai follows closely after Chinese premier Li Keqiang's visit to Britain last week, and is meant to confirm and expand financial cooperation with Chinese institutions along with strengthening London's position as an offshore yuan center.

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Institutional investors in London have been granted an 80 billion yuan RQFII quota, through which they can use renminbi to directly invest in China's A-share market. Boleat said investors in Britain are interested in the stock market even though it is currently giving its worst performance.

"Institutional investors do massive research before they make decisions, and they are mainly based on their predictions of certain companies. So it is not the current situation that influences their decision," he said.

The major issue of the Chinese stock market is that many businesses are State-owned or partly State-owned, so it is hard to predict their performance as authorities may interfere. However, there are still large numbers of private companies whose performances are easier to predict.

"If the RQFII quota is expanded, I believe it will be quickly taken up by investors in London," he added.

"We see an increasing two-way flow of renminbi between Britain and China. We are expecting more as Chinese banks, insurance companies and property investment programs to expand activities in London, as well as British institutions keen to expand in China," he added.

The Chinese economy is growing fast and China is a major importer and exporter, and the volume of Chinese trade with Britain has increased.

And such trade needs to be financed, which is one of the key points driving the two-way flow of yuan, Boleat said.