The 15 banks, all with the qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) status, include major Chinese commercial and foreign-funded banks, such as Citibank and the Bank of East Asia, which were approved last year to transform their Chinese branches into locally incorporated banks registered on the mainland.

Meanwhile, 15 insurance companies were granted overseas investment quotas of US$5.17 billion and one fund management company was given a quota of US$500 million.

China started the QDII program in July 2006, allowing QDIIs to raise renminbi funds from domestic individuals and institutions and convert them into foreign currency for overseas investment.

China has also eased control on foreign exchange purchases by individuals. It put an annual quota on foreign exchange purchases by individuals in May 2006, rather than limiting the size of each purchase.

Purchases soared 220 percent year on year during the last seven months of the year.

The annual quota for individuals was raised from US$20,000 to US$50,000 on February 1 this year.

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