IN a sign of authorities relaxing capital controls, Shanghai is reviving an outbound investment program that allows global asset managers to raise money via subsidiaries in the city for overseas investment, four sources said.

There has been no issuance of Qualified Domestic Limited Partnership (QDLP) quotas since an unofficial suspension in late 2015, when China tightened capital controls amid turmoil in its stock and currency markets.

The Shanghai Municipal Financial Service Office will resume vetting QDLP applications this week, and will award each qualified asset manager a quota of US$50 million, the sources with direct knowledge of the plan said.

One of the sources said the regulator is expected to issue about half a dozen QDLP licenses in the latest round in the first quarter of 2018.

There’s no indication that the unofficial suspension of the larger Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) program, which allows Chinese investors to buy overseas stocks and bonds, is being lifted.

Resumption of QDLP quotas would indicate the government is increasingly confident as its worries of capital outflows and yuan depreciation have receded.

The move comes at a time global financial markets are rallying robustly.

Domestic media have quoted foreign institutions such as BNP Paribas Asset Management, British asset manager Aberdeen Standard, and South Korea’s Mirae Asset as saying that they are interested in getting QDLP licenses.

Dutch money manager Robeco has also said it was seeking a QDLP license.

The last batch of QDLP licenses was granted in late 2015. The program was launched in 2013.(SD-Agencies)