What’s new: Sequoia China’s public market fund affiliate is seeking to expand its access to the Chinese mainland by applying for the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission is reviewing the application from Sequoia China Equity Partners, also known as SCEP, the authority’s website showed Monday.
Set up in 2005, Sequoia China’s venture capital investments have since backed some of the country’s most high-profile companies, including TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd., local services platform Meituan, ride-hailing titan Didi Global Inc., as well as e-commerce giants JD.com Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
The background: China launched the QFII program in 2002, allowing eligible foreign institutional investors to trade in the mainland’s stock and bond markets with certain quotas. Initially, the quotas were limited, but the cap was scrapped in May 2020.
Later that year, regulators revamped the system by combining the regulations for QFII and the yuan-denominated Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) program.
Last year, China made dozens of commodity derivatives available to QFII and RQFII investors, in a push to lure foreign capital to its nascent derivatives market.
This story has been corrected to reflect that the entity applying for the QFII program is an affiliate of Sequoia China.
Related: U.S. Hedge Fund Giant Citadel Tries to Tap Into China
Contact reporter Zhang Ziyu (ziyuzhang@caixin.com) and editor Jonathan Breen (jonathanbreen@caixin.com)
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