espite the severe Covid-19 pandemic in Shanghai, a number of international asset management firms are applying to a pilot program for QFLP (Qualified Foreign Limited Partner) and QDLP (Qualified Domestic Limited Partner) status.
QFLP enables approved foreign investors to invest in China’s domestic private equity and venture capital market after they exchange foreign capital into Chinese yuan, and QDLP enables qualified Chinese fund investors to invest on the international market.
Four firms, including Hamilton Lane based in the US, CCB International based in Hong Kong, CDH Investments based in Beijing and JAFCO Asia initially established in Singapore have been approved for QFLP, and BlackRock, the biggest listed asset management company in the US, and the Anzhong Investment under AZIMUT group, a leading European independent capital management company, have been approved for QDLP, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Tang Xiaodong, director of BlackRock’s China Branch, told Xinhua that the latest approval for QDLP will facilitate BlackRock to further introduce in experience in foreign investment and risk management and they hold a positive attitude toward the potential and flexibility of the Chinese market in the long run.
Hu Ning, a partner in CDH Investments told Xinhua they applied for QFLP because they are optimistic about China’s demand for long-term US dollar investment and they are attracted by Shanghai’s high-level opening-up for cross-border investment. Hu said he believes that China’s real economy will continue its path of stable development and will play a role as a safe haven for assets in the global market.
Several other international asset management firms have applied for the pilot investment scheme to expand their business.
“Due to effective pandemic control, China has maintained normal production over the past two years and further enhanced its status in the global industrial chain. Although the new Covid-19 variants have brought about new challenges, we believe that China will find a dynamic balance between pandemic control and economic development,” Pan Ruiting, JAFCO Asia’s general managing director and director of the China Branch, told Xinhua.
On April 29, China’s politburo released a readout of their meeting, which said that government departments should actively respond to foreign enterprises’ appeal for business facilitation in China and try their best to stabilize the foundation for foreign trade and investment.
The readout emphasized that China will continue to open to foreign investors and will further integrate into global trade and investment. It said that the country will minimize the influence on foreign enterprises due to enhanced logistics and transportation controls for the pandemic.
The latest data from China’s Ministry of Commerce shows that China’s actual use of foreign capital reached US$74.5 billion from January to April despite the Omicron outbreak, 26.1 percent more than that in the same period of 2021.
Although China’s economy was heavily impacted by the pandemic in April, the impact will not last long, National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Fu Linghui said at a press conference on May 16.
Fu said that China will continue to roll-out measures to stabilize the economy while it works to control the pandemic.
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