Qatar seeks $5b quota to invest in China

BEIJING - Qatari investment authorities are applying for the status of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor in China and aim for an investment quota of $5 billion, according to a senior Qatari official.

Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, minister of energy and industry of Qatar, said during his trip in Beijing that by applying for the QFII status, Qatar plans to invest part of its revenues generated from transferring gas to China in Chinese shares and IPOs.

Liquefied natural gas transported from Qatar to China amounts to 5 million tons annually.

Sada said the decision, which has received positive responses from China, is out of recognition of the strength and prospect of the Chinese economy.

He said the current disappointing performance in China's A-share market will be short-lived and Qatar is eyeing China's long-term growth potential for strategic investments.

Launched in 2002, QFII is one of the few channels for overseas investors to trade in the A-share market within given quotas. The quota that Qatar proposed far exceeded the current cap of $1 billion.

With an increasing number of foreign investors showing interest in China's A-share market, China's regulator had quickened its pace to further open its capital market.

Earlier this month, China Securities Regulatory Commission cut the asset requirements for foreign institutions wanting to invest in its stock markets and allowed the QFIIs to hold up to a 30-percent stake in a listed company.

The commission has also quickened QFII approvals recently to encourage foreign investors who held long-term investment plans.

Foreign investment under the QFII program accounts for 1.1 percent of the total market value of domestic A-shares.