China has given approval for a further foreign institution to invest in its main securities markets under its Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor Scheme, according to media reports.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission approved UOB Asset Management, a unit of Singapore's United Overseas Bank. UOB did not immediately confirm the reports when contacted by WealthBriefing today.

The firm must obtain investment quotas from China's foreign exchange regulator.  Individual quotas are commonly around $100 million to $200 million, and quotas issued so far are believed to total more than $11 billion.

The approval brings to 72 the number of foreign investors via the QFII scheme, which was launched in 2003 as the main way for foreigners to buy Chinese securities. Twenty such institutions have been approved this year.