China’s qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) funds’ assets jumped 56.8% in 2025, adding to a 44% increase in 2024 as Chinese investors stepped up investments in foreign securities.
QDII funds are vehicles that allow Chinese investors to invest in foreign stocks and bonds using quotas granted to institutions including banks, asset managers, brokerage firms and wealth managers by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), supervisor of China’s foreign exchange market.
Figures compiled by Shanghai-based investment consulting firm Z-Ben Advisors for Asia Asset Management show that there were 322 QDII funds with 833.7 billion RMB (US$120 billion) of total assets at the end of 2025.
That was up from 531.7 billion RMB in 302 funds in 2024, and 369.1 billion RMB in 276 funds in 2023.
Z-Ben Advisors says the increase was due to improved risk sentiment among domestic investors, but notes that China has been cautious about granting new quotas because of a weaker renminbi.
According to the firm, “RMB depreciation pressure in the first half of 2025 led SAFE to provide only small trickles of QDII quotas to fund managers, banks, insurers, and brokers, which was insufficient to meet their demands”.
SAFE allocated $3.08 billion of quotas to 82 institutions last year.
