China to lift curbs on foreign fund offshore investments, sources say
Crackdown on capital outflows and a weakening of the US dollar have provided Beijing with more policy flexibility, according to industry executives
China will lift a two-year suspension on foreign funds raising money in the country to invest overseas as early as June, people familiar with the matter said, a sign that Beijing is getting less anxious about capital outflow pressures.
Some industry executives said the expected resumption of the Qualified Domestic Limited Partnership (QDLP) programme may mean that an official crackdown on capital outflows and a weakening of the dollar have provided the authorities with more policy flexibility.
Neither the Shanghai Municipal Government Financial Services Office, which runs the QDLP scheme, nor the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), which controls the capital account, responded immediately to requests for comment.
The QDLP programme allows foreign fund managers to raise money within a set quota from high net-worth Chinese investors through a wholly-owned onshore fund management company and invest the cash overseas.
Launched in 2013, QDLP was one of a handful of controlled schemes that allowed Chinese to invest money overseas. It was subsequently informally suspended in 2015 after the stock market crashed and lost around 40 per cent of its value.
The licences and accompanying quota had previously been issued in batches, with authorities expected to issue the long-awaited next round in coming weeks, said two people briefed by regulators on the matter.