The China Securities Regulatory Commission granted new licenses for seven qualified foreign institutional investors in May, signaling the faster opening up of the financial market.

So far this year, 30 foreign financial institutions received the quota to expand their businesses under the QFII scheme. The top securities regulator approved five licenses in April and eight in March, the highest this year, according to the CSRC.

According to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, 138 QFII received a total investment quota of $26 billion by May 16.

In 2012, 38 foreign financial institutions joined the QFII list with a $4.37 billion quota, a statement from the SAFE said. That figure is nearly the same as the total quota approved in 2010 and 2011.

Currently, many overseas sovereign wealth funds and pension funds have strong investment demand in China, mainly targeting the share market, an official from the CSRC said.

As the QFII licenses are limited, many foreign institutional investors expect Chinese authorities to continually expand the quota, according to the CSRC.

chenjia1@chinadaily.com.cn