China said Tuesday that it will ease restrictions on foreign institutional investors in a step to open its financial market.

Photo: VCG

New rules for the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) and the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) programs will make it easier for these investors to move funds out of the Chinese mainland, according to the People's Bank of China, the central bank, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). 

A 20 percent cap on the amount of capital that users of the QFII program can remit out of the country as a percentage of their total domestic assets has been removed, effective from Tuesday.

The outstanding amount of China's dollar-denominated QFII program rose to $99.46 billion as of May 31, according to SAFE.

The QFII program was created to allow foreigners to invest in China.