China's economy was continuing to be out of balance because of its huge trade surplus, a leading institutional authority warned yesterday.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) also added that the excessively huge trade surplus indicated that an "overcapacity" had developed in China's economy and this was getting stronger.

China's trade surplus reached US$223.8 billion, more than three times higher than that of 2001, according to SAFE statistics.

China's current account surplus accounted for 7.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product, up drastically from 1.3 percent in 2001, said the official who declined to be named. The current account surplus indicates that domestic savings have exceeded domestic investment and that there was a problem of overcapacity.

From 2001 to 2005, China's investment rate increased from 38 percent to 46 percent, while the domestic savings rate increased from 40 to 50 percent, SAFE said in a report on the country's international payment situation.

Residents' savings, corporate savings and governmental savings, the three major component parts of domestic savings in China, have all witnessed a comparatively fast rise in the past few years, the report said.

The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into China totaled more than US$270 billion from 2001 to 2005, which reflected the country's advantage in attracting overseas investment, it said.

Meanwhile, overseas financing by Chinese firms also increased the inflow of overseas capital into China, due to the immaturity of the domestic capital market, which made it hard for those firms to raise capital at home.

QFIIs get more quotas

In another report, SAFE had awarded investment quotas totaling US$6.57 billion to 34 qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII) by the end of April.

A total of 40 foreign institutional investors have been allowed to enter the Chinese capital market as QFII. Overseas investors are allowed to hold tradable Chinese shares only through QFIIs.

The report says China began to grant overseas institutional investors the status of QFIIs in May 2003, and the Chinese Government has promised to increase the total investment quota to US$10 billion.

SAFE approved US$2.22 billion investment quotas for QFIIs last year.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission granted QFII status to three foreign investment institutions in one week last month in a bid to increase capital inflow into the country's stock market.

The latest QFIIs granted investment quotas or additional quotas include JP Morgan Chase Bank, The DBS Bank Ltd, and JF Asset Management Ltd.

SAFE announced in April that it had given an additional quota of US$100 million to JP Morgan Chase Bank, raising its total to US$150 million.

The DBS Bank Ltd, Singapore's largest bank and a subsidiary of investment firm Temasek Holdings, was awarded a quota of US$100 million. JF Asset Management Ltd was given a quota of US$150 million, with at least US$100 million to be used as a JF stock fund.

SAFE said QFIIs had helped the reform and innovation of China's capital markets since the scheme was piloted in 2002.

(China Daily May 6, 2006)