China considers easing grip on capital accounts (Xinhua) Updated: 2004-06-01 09:40
China is working on ways to ease restrictions on capital accounts, including
lifting a ban on emigrants' transfer of legitimate assets abroad, a high-level
foreign exchange official has said.
According to a document on Monday, Ma Delun, deputy director of the State
Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), said that China is also discussing
lifting bans on transfer of legacy abroad by non-Chinese residents, further
opening up capital markets, doing away with restrictions on cross- border
transfer of foreign exchange capital by multinationals.
Ma also disclosed other measures being considered to further open China's
capital market, including establishing a qualified domestic institutional
investor (QDII) system and allowing social security funds to invest abroad.
The QDII system would allow domestic institutional investors to invest in
capital markets abroad.
China has few restrictions on nearly half of 43 categories of capital market
dealings as defined by the International Monetary Fund, said the
official.
