Capital Controls To Ease Further

China to promote yuan by relaxing investment scheme rules

Currently, foreign asset managers and banks investing in Chinese stocks and bonds through the $150 billion Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program can only move capital in and out of China on a weekly basis and are therefore restricted in their ability to manage and value funds.

But the changes now being reviewed by China's chief executive body, the State Council, would make the yuan convertible within the limits of the scheme and allow the cross-border flow of billions of dollars' worth of investments at a day's notice.

The reform could also increase the chances of Chinese stocks being represented in global benchmarks such as the MSCI Emerging Market Index.