Chinese financial floodgates are now opened. In the past, China imposed a max. USD50,000 transfer to Overseas. However, in the past few days, China started to free capital controls starting with Shanghai FTZ. In a nutshell, China is now exporting liquidity overseas. Australia is the first to benefit. With the involvement of Chinese developers in Iskandar Malaysia, it could be a sign of higher purchasing power by PRCs, and inflation of property prices.
.........................
Australian share and bond markets could benefit from a rush of Chinese money after the central bank announced on Monday that capital controls would be lifted in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
Chinese companies and people with an account in the new zone will be allowed to directly invest overseas without the need for pre-approvals or a cap on the total amount of money, according to the guidelines published by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC).
It is not just residents in the 29-square-kilometre zone who will benefit from the dramatic relaxation of restrictions: non-residents can also set up so-called free-trade accounts.
The PBoC also said foreign companies, with operations in the zone, could issue yuan-denominated bonds in the onshore market – a move that would open up the world’s largest untapped pool of savings. And the central bank plans to remove interest-rate and exchange-rate controls within the zone, although at a more gradual pace, once “conditions are ripe”.
“It’s more aggressive than we thought,” said ANZ chief China economist Liu Li-Gang. “The free-trade zone is not subject to any capital controls and they are also allowing non-residents to set up accounts.”
Still, there is some uncertainty about how Chinese companies and people will be able to transfer the initial funds for investment. The flow of money between normal Chinese bank accounts and the new free-trade accounts (FTAs) will still be subject to regulations. Mr Liu said a lot would depend on how the China Banking *Regulatory Commission treats those initial transfers.
“This could be very exciting,” he said. “But a lot will depend on the specific banking regulations.”