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Regulator: No massive stock selling by QFIIs

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-17 21:53

China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the country's equities market regulator, said on Friday there was no inflow or outflow on a massive scale of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) funds from the country's A-share market.

A CSRC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said QFII funds were not involved in manipulating share prices and overseas institutions were still enthusiastic in applying for QFII licenses.

Through September, QFIIs numbered 69. Of them, 57 had used their quotas and each had an average capital of 200 million yuan ($29.3 million).

Stocks held by the 57 QFII funds accounted for only 2 percent of the total market value. The official said it was unnecessary to exaggerate their influence on the A-share stock market.

"Generally, investments made by QFII funds conform to norms. The inflow and outflow of foreign exchange conducted by QFII funds are controllable and related operations are normal and stable."

Since the QFII program was put into trial practice in November 2002, the CSRC and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) had taken a series of policies and measures, which helped set up an efficient supervision framework, he said.

The QFIIs were still "significant institutional investors" and many overseas institutions were still trying to apply for QFII licenses though the A-shares had undergone massive adjustments this year, according to the official.

"The CSRC is supervising the QFII funds and their investment movement. Any abnormal or rule-breaking behaviors are under supervision," he said.

The QFII program was introduced by the CSRC and the People's Bank of China (the central bank) as a provision for foreign capital to access the country's financial markets. QFII funds are allowed to invest in Chinese shares, treasuries, convertible and enterprise bonds.

There were reports in the Chinese media claiming that a massive outflow of QFII funds was one reason behind the slump of the domestic stock market.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which closed at 1,930.65 points on Friday, had plunged more than 66 percent from its record high last October.