China plans to reform institutional outbound investment program but the annual $50,000 foreign exchange quota for individuals will remain unchanged.
Pan Gongsheng, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and deputy governor of the central bank, said that rules for the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor program will be adjusted to facilitate cross-border investment and fundraising.
The plan for adjustment follows changes made to the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme last year that scraped case-by-case quota approval and relaxed conversion of foreign exchange.
The new QFII rule allows foreign investors to invest a base amount in the domestic market without needing approval and allows them to move funds in and out of China more easily.
Pan said the new rules for the QDII program, which allows domestic investors to participate in the overseas market, is an attempt to facilitate cross-border investment and fundraising.
For individuals, Pan stressed that the current quota of US$50,000 was enough and it was not necessary to increase or cut the quota.
"The authorities don't have any plan to make any adjustment," Pan added.
The central bank has been monitoring larger individual transactions while authorities promised "normal" foreign currency availability for individuals.
Starting this year, a system was launched nationwide to record foreign-exchange transactions of individuals, both online and in bank branches.
The move was intended to curb capital outflow following yuan depreciation. Since last year, monetary authorities have been talking about regulations for mainland residents investing in overseas capital markets and real estate.
