Qatar seeks $5BN investment in Chinese markets

GlobalPost

Qatar has announced that is to apply for a licence to invest $5 billion in Chinese stocks and bonds, which – if approved – would make the Gulf state the largest foreign investor in China’s capital market.

The application under China’s Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program is seeking an investment quota five times the size of the current $1 billion cap, which Chinese regulators are reported to be considering increasing, according to Al Jazeera.

Energy and Industry Minister Mohammed Bin Saleh al-Sada said Qatar plans to draw on some of its income earned from selling about 5 million tons of liquefied gas to Beijing annually, and invest it in the Chinese markets via securities and initial public offerings, the Doha-based news organization reported.

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According to the BBC, al-Sada also underlined Doha’s confidence in China’s long-term growth potential. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CRSC), which recently proposed to allow foreign investors to hold a combined stake of 30 percent in a listed Chinese firm instead of the current 20 percent limit, said it would process Qatar’s application as soon as possible.

The Qatar Investment Authority, which claims to hold more than $100 billion in assets, has yet to secure a licence to invest in Chinese markets. Al-Sada was speaking Monday from Beijing where he was attending a China-Qatar investment and cooperation forum, the Financial Times reported

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