BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) — China’s foreign exchange regulator said Thursday it has approved quotas worth a total of 26.01 billion U.S. dollars for 141 qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII) as of Tuesday. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said on its website that it approved quotas worth 570 million U.S. dollars for five QFIIs on May 4 in a move to allow more QFII investment. The largest quotas went to the Taiwan-based TransGlobe Life Insurance Inc. and Fubon Life Insurance Co., Ltd., with each approved for a quota of 150 million U.S. dollars. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said Wednesday it approved five QFIIs in April, bringing the total number of QFIIs in China to 163. The CSRC is in charge of granting QFII status in China, while the SAFE sets investment quotas. China launched its QFII program in 2002 to allow overseas investors to make investments in China’s stock market under a preset investment quota of 10 billion U.S. dollars. The quota was expanded to 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2007 and to 80 billion U.S. dollars last month.

Editor: An