China to Boost Outbound Investment to Try to Curb Strengthening Yuan

China’s foreign exchange regulator has allocated fresh quotas for some institutions to invest in offshore financial markets under a special program, in a bid to encourage more outbound investment to ease pressure on the yuan’s continued appreciation.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has recently added $3.5 billion in fresh quotas for one bank and four fund managers to invest abroad under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) program, official data show. It’s the seventh QDII quota increase this year, and comes after an earlier hike by Nov. 25.