China regulator says will launch mini QFII soon - report

SHANGHAI May 14 (Reuters) - China will soon launch a trial programme that will allow local funds to raise money offshore for investment in the domestic financial market, a senior official from the securities regulator was quoted as saying.

The programme, known locally as "mini-QFII", will let Chinese fund managers compete with Western players such as Franklin Templeton and Invesco .

The official Shanghai Securities News quoted Wang Lin, the head of the funds regulation department at the China Securities Regulatory Commission as saying in Hong Kong that initial rules for the scheme have been completed and it will be launched soon.

Mini-QFII takes after the 8-year-old QFII programme, which allows foreign fund managers to invest in Chinese stocks and bonds on behalf of foreign investors using money raised overseas.

Sources told Reuters in January that at least 80 percent of the money raised will have to be invested in the domestic bond market. [ID:nL3E7CH0BZ]

Chinese brokerages with international arms such as Guotai Junan are expected to participate in the mini-QFII programme. (Reporting by Kazunori Takada, editing by Miral Fahmy)