The State Administration of Foreign Exchange granted $500 million in new quotas in August for the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors scheme.

The QDII scheme allows domestic fund managers to invest in overseas financial markets.

After the move, which was allocated to Essence Securities Co Ltd, the total QDII quota stands at $84.3 billion.

Also in August, SAFE handed out $1.34 billion in new quotas under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor program for offshore fund managers to invest in Chinese financial markets.

Investors need a quota for financial investments in China because the country's currency is not fully convertible under the capital account.

So far, 153 institutions have QFII quotas totaling $29.9 billion.

gaochangxin@chinadaily.com.cn