China International Capital Corp, the nation's biggest investment bank, said Tuesday it has won regulatory approval to become the country's first securities firm to help clients trade overseas securities.

 

CICC, 34 percent owned by Morgan Stanley, has been assigned an initial US$3 million limit by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to buy US government treasuries and other fixed-income vehicles with high investment ratings, company officials told Shanghai Daily by phone.

 

The move, coming at a time when China is studying a broader project to let financial firms invest overseas under its Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor project, may serve as a test for regulators to allow more capital outflow to cut forex reverses and seek higher returns, analysts said.

 

"Our move is not the same as a QDII program" that will permit companies to buy foreign currency and invest in overseas stocks and bonds, said Tracy Hu, a media relations manager at CICC.

 

"The project only lets us arrange clients' foreign currency."

 

Only institutions with minimum forex deposits of US$5 million are eligible for the service, according to CICC.

 

China expects the QDII scheme to help balance its capital account and serve as a crucial step toward achieving the convertibility of the Chinese yuan, Zou Lin, a senior SAFE official, said last month. Regulators have not decided when to initiate the program, Zou said.

 

China held US$853.7 billion in foreign reserves at the end of February, up from US$845.2 billion in January, overtaking Japan as the world's top forex holder, the China Business News said yesterday, citing unnamed industry officials.

 

"CICC, which features good risk-control ability, may provide experience for regulators to gradually let companies invest overseas," said Wu Zhiguo, a Guohai Securities Co analyst.

 

"I expect the government won't rush to launch the QDII project until specific rules, especially risk-management systems, are set up."

 

Besides CICC, Chinese authorities are allowing only two insurance companies to purchase overseas securities with their forex capital.

 

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, the country's second-biggest life insurer, was authorized to spend US$1.75 billion, and China Life Insurance Co was granted a US$300 million quota.

 

Media reports have said Hua'an Fund Management Co, a Shanghai-based fund manager, may become the first company to test the QDII program as early as April. Officials at Hua'an declined comment on media reports about the QDII program trial.

 

(Shanghai Daily March 30, 2006)