Bill Gates' charity wins US$100m QFII quota
(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-06 16:12

A charitable body set up by Microsoft Corp founder Bill Gates had won approval to invest US$100 million in China's main stock and debt markets, said regulators last Saturday.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is only the 17th institution allowed to trade in China's US$500 billion stock markets under a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program, intended to attract big names on to fledgling bourses.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced the foundation's quota -- the final obstacle to actual investment -- on its Web site.

The philanthropic organization supports the global fight against AIDS, malaria and other diseases, among other things.

Launched in 2002, QFII offers foreign investors the option of riding Chinese corporate growth by buying directly into a wide range of mainland-listed companies.

Before QFII, foreign investors were confined to the tiny, hard-currency B-share markets and barred from the main, yuan-denominated A-share markets.

Regulators have granted approval for 16 other firms, including Credit Suisse First Boston and UBS AG, to trade A shares in more than 1,300 companies, as well as treasuries and corporate bonds.

So far, 15 foreign investors are known to have won quotas to invest up to US$1.95 billion collectively, including Merrill Lynch.

The government hopes that more foreign institutional investors would stabilize the markets and bring expertise to the country's unruly securities and asset management sectors.

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