South Korea's central bank said Monday that it opened an office in Shanghai in a
bid to better monitor the Chinese markets.
The Bank of Korea (BOK)
said the new office in Shanghai will help it get better access to Chinese market
information on a real-time basis as it has recently been granted a license to
join China's qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) program.
According to the BOK, it marks the first time a foreign central bank has
established two offices in mainland China.
The BOK opened its Beijing
office in 2003, becoming the first foreign central bank to launch an office in
China. It also has been operating an office in Hong Kong since 1984.
In January, the central bank earned approval from the China Securities
Regulatory Commission to invest in yuan-denominated stocks and bonds.
Those securities issued by mainland China-based companies in the financial
markets of Shanghai and Shenzhen are generally only available for purchase by
mainland citizens.
Foreign investment in the Chinese-currency based
bonds and shares, called A-shares, is only allowed through a tightly-regulated
structure under the QFII system.
The BOK added it received a regulated
investment quota of US$300 million from the Chinese State Administration of
Foreign Exchange earlier on Monday.
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