Multinationals will be allowed to invest in the Chinese currency-dominated A share market through their investment subsidiaries in China as of July 1, said the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday.

 

Previously, China's A share market was only open to foreign corporations and organizations that had overseas assets of not less than US$100 million or managed overseas assets of not less than US$500 million.

 

The new supplementary regulation released by the ministry requires foreign funded investment companies to have registered capital of US$30 million. The move is seen as a sign the country is loosening control of its capital market.

The revision was "profound and significant", said Zhou Jia, chief financial officer of Kodak (China).

 

Many of the world's heavyweight multinationals have established investment subsidiaries in China, Zhou said.

 

The revision is due to take effect on July 1.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2006)