China issues third round of QDII quotas this year

China has issued $4.3bn worth of quotas to 23 firms under the qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) scheme in end-November, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

Launched in 2006, the QDII programme allows domestic institutions and fund managers to invest in offshore investments within allowable quotas.

This is the third time that the country has issued QDII quotas this year. In early-November, SAFE issued $5.06bn worth of quotas and $3.36bn in September. Before that, the last time the regulator issued quotas was in April 2019.

In total, SAFE has issued $12.72bn in quotas this year.

SIX NEW RECIPIENTS

A total of 23 firms received QDII quotas last week, which include six first time recipients – all of which are trust companies, according to SAFE records.

First-time recipients

Meanwhile, 17 firms received additional quotas of $3.77bn.

Of the 17 firms, 11 were fund management companies, two banks, two insurance companies and one securities firms, according to SAFE data (see below).

In total, there are 169 QDII quota holders, with Ping An Insurance Group having the largest quota of $7.59bn, followed by Sino Life Insurance ($4.41bn), China Asset Management ($3.85bn), Harvest Fund Management ($3.6bn) and China Life Insurance ($3.55bn).

Since the programme began, SAFE has granted $116.7bn in QDII quotas, according to SAFE data.

Firms that received additional quotas