Beijing eases restrictions on foreign investors

SHANGHAI - Agence France-Presse

China has eased restrictions on foreign investors seeking to put their money into the country’s markets, Beijing’s latest financial sector reforms as it seeks to boost a slowing economy.

The securities regulator late on July 27 published new rules allowing qualified institutional investors to hold up to 30 percent of shares in any domestically listed company, up from 20 percent.

Investors may invest in Interbank bonds

The new rules will make it easier for foreign groups to obtain the status of qualified institutional investor, and thus enter the Chinese market, said the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Foreign investors will now also be able to put their money into China’s interbank bond market and high-yield bond market, said the regulator. The steps should lead

to “more long-term foreign investment on China’s capital markets,” according to a statement from the regulator.

China has introduced a series of reforms to open up its financial markets in recent months in the hope of boosting its economy, which grew 7.6 percent in the second quarter, its slowest pace for more than three years.