CHINA on Tuesday adjusted rules to make it easier for qualified foreign investors in Chinese stocks and bonds to move money out of the country, in the nation’s latest step to open up its capital markets.

China’s forex regulator said it will scrap the 20 percent monthly repatriation limit under the U.S. dollar-dominated qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) program, and will remove lockup periods for investment principal under QFII and its yuan-denominated sibling program, RQFII.

The move came less than two weeks after U.S. index publisher MSCI included more than 200 China-listed shares into its emerging market benchmark on a partial inclusion factor.

“This is in line with China’s general policy of opening-up, and could help shorten the process toward China’s full inclusion into MSCI,” said Ivan Shi, head of research at fund consultancy Z-Ben Advisors.

According to rules published late Tuesday, effective immediately, investors under QFII and RQFII will also be allowed to conduct foreign exchange hedging in China.

The QFII program allows licensed overseas investors to invest in China’s yuan-denominated capital market, while the RQFII program allows foreign institutional investors to invest in the mainland’s onshore market with offshore yuan deposits.

As of the end of May, 287 overseas institutions had received quotas amounting to a total of US$99.46 billion under the QFII program, while the quotas in the RQFII program came in at 615.85 billion yuan (US$96.2 billion) for 196 institutional investors from abroad, Xinhua said Tuesday. (SD-Agencies)