China to open up financial markets, U.S. says

XIANGHE, China (Reuters) - China has agreed to a series of measures to open up the country's financial markets, the United States said on Thursday.

A factsheet distributed to reporters after a two-day Sino-American "strategic economic dialogue" near Beijing listed the following steps:

-- Foreign companies, including banks, that do business in China will be allowed to issue debt and equity in the domestic markets.

-- China will resume licensing foreign securities joint ventures, which will be allowed to carry out brokerage and wealth management business. It gave no timeframe.

-- Mutual funds offered by Chinese banks under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme will be permitted to invest in U.S. stocks under an exchange of letters agreed to by the two countries' regulators. Bank funds currently may invest only in Hong Kong. (Reporting by Glenn Somerville; Editing by Alan Wheatley and Ken Wills)