KUWAIT: China’s foreign exchange regulator has increased the amount which Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund can invest directly in the Chinese securities markets to $1bn, state news agency KUNA reported yesterday.
The regulator awarded Kuwait an additional $700m quota on top of $300m awarded in March last year, KUNA said. Kuwait said last year that it was seeking a maximum quota of $1bn.
The quota allows the fund to buy yuan-denominated stocks and bonds. Only five other foreign investors in China have quotas as large as $1bn, according to records; they are Qatar Holding, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Norway’s Norges Bank, Government of Singapore Investment Corp, and Singapore-based investment firm Temasek Fullerton.
Chinese officials were not immediately available to comment on the KUNA report. But Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, indicated last week that authorities would continue to open up channels for overseas fund inflows into China, lifting sentiment in the local stock market. Reuters
