The Chinese banking watchdog has approved 17 banks as qualified
domestic institutional investors (QDII) and expects more banks to
offer QDII services, said Tang Shuangning, vice chairman of the
China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).
The 10 domestic and seven foreign-funded banks have initiated a
total of nine QDII products, involving subscriptions of 2.3 billion
yuan (US$287.5 million) and US$900 million.
Tang said QDIIs opted for Hong Kong as their main destination
for overseas investments as a result of the increasing economic
ties between the mainland and the Asian financial center in recent
years.
The CBRC would take great efforts to boost the QDII program, by
encouraging the mainland banking institutions to strengthen
communication with the regulators and their counterparts in Hong
Kong.
China started the QDII program in July, allowing domestic
institutions and residents to buy financial products overseas via
mainland commercial banks and other financial institutions.
Statistics show China's foreign exchange authority had granted
overseas investment quotas totaling US$10.3 billion to eight QDIIs
by the end of September.
(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2006)