China Opens Capital Markets as U.K. Taps Overseas Yuan Business

The U.K. joined Hong Kong and Taiwan in being allowed by China to take part in a program allowing offshore yuan to be invested in Chinese securities, a move that bolsters efforts to internationalize the currency.

China approved an 80 billion yuan ($13 billion) quota for investors in London to buy onshore assets under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said at a briefing in Beijing yesterday. The deal was part of a series of agreements signed during Osborne’s trip, which include direct trading between the yuan and pound and allowing Chinese lenders to open wholesale-banking branches in the U.K. capital.