中國將允許個人購買海外金融資產

China is finalising plans to let individuals invest directly in overseas financial assets, further loosening capital controls as it seeks official reserve currency status for the renminbi.

中國政府進一步放鬆資本管制的計劃即將拉開帷幕，這一計劃將允許個人直接投資海外金融資產，旨在爲人民幣尋求官方儲備貨幣地位。

The currency, once so tightly controlled that overseas visitors were restricted to parallel bank notes, is today freely convertible for trade purposes but strictly curbed on cross-border investment. That too is changing via a series of programmes to encourage freer capital flows, even as recent data indicate the country is grappling with record capital outflows.

人民幣曾受到嚴格控制，海外遊客僅限使用外匯券，如今雖可以基於交易目的自由兌換貨幣，但跨境投資仍受嚴格遏制。但這一點也將通過一系列程序加以改變，以鼓勵更自由的資本流動，雖然最近的數據表明中國正努力應對創紀錄的資本外流現象。

Easing controls on outbound financial investment will help the renminbi meet International Monetary Fund requirements that any official reserve currency be “freely usable”, analysts say. The IMF will decide this year whether to endorse the renminbi.

分析人士表示，放寬對海外金融投資的控制將有助於人民幣滿足國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)的要求，即任何官方儲備貨幣都“可自由使用”。IMF將在今年決定是否接納人民幣。

The latest move would enable Chinese individuals to buy overseas stocks, bonds and real estate directly rather than pick from a handful of government-approved foreign mutual funds as they are now obliged to do, state media reported this week.

根據中國官方媒體本週報道，中國政府這一最新的舉措將允許個人直接購買海外股票、債券和房地產，而不是像現在只能從少數政府批准的外國共同基金中挑選投資對象。

Known as the Qualified Domestic Individual Investor programme, or QDII2, it builds on an earlier 2007 incarnation that allows approved Chinese asset managers to sell mutual funds, comprised of foreign stocks and bonds, to domestic investors. Quotas granted under QDII totalled $90bn to the end of April.

這項名爲合格境內個人投資者計劃(QDII2)的舉措是以2007年出臺的合格境內機構投資者計劃(QDII)爲基礎。QDII允許獲批的中國資產管理公司向國內投資者銷售投資海外股票和債券的共同基金。截至今年4月底，累計發放的QDII額度爲900億美元。

Apart from QDII, current rules let Chinese residents convert $50,000 worth of renminbi to foreign currency annually. In reality, investors have also exploited various loopholes to move money offshore, including disguising outbound financial flows as payments for imported goods.

除了QDII以外，現行法規允許中國居民每年將價值5萬美元的人民幣兌換爲外幣。事實上，投資者還利用多種漏洞將更多資金轉移到海外，包括將出境資金流僞裝成對進口產品的支付款。

QDII2 will start as a pilot programme in Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Wuhan, Shenzhen, and Wenzhou, the official Securities Times reported this week. Individuals with net financial assets of at least Rmb1m ($163,000) will qualify for the programme, with total outbound investment limited to 50 per cent of the individual’s net assets.

據官方媒體《證券時報》(Securities Times)報道，QDII2將作爲試點項目在上海、天津、重慶、武漢、深圳和溫州啓動。淨金融資產至少達到100萬元人民幣（合16.3萬美元）的個人投資者才能達到參加該項目的資質要求，總對外投資額限制在個人淨資產的50%以下。

Liang Hong, economist at China International Capital Corp, estimates that if the programme were expanded nationwide, it would theoretically free up about Rmb41tn in domestic wealth for overseas investment. But analysts caution that Chinese authorities, wary of unleashing uncontrolled outflows, are unlikely to scale the programme up that quickly.

中金公司(CICC)的經濟學家樑紅預測，如果該項目在全國推廣，理論上將釋放出約41萬億元人民幣可用於海外投資的國內財富。但分析師警告稱中國當局對放開不受控制的資金外流非常警惕，不太可能迅速擴大項目規模。

QDII2 will permit investment in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, insurance, financial derivatives and real estate. It will also permit direct investment, including mergers and acquisitions, the paper reported.

QDII2將允許對股票、債券、共同基金、保險、金融衍生品和房地產進行投資。據《證券時報》報道，該項目也允許包括併購在內的直接投資。