Chinese regulators are working to speed up the process of granting foreign investors the license to buy into domestic securities as part of its move to open up capital markets.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, which approves investment quotas for individual qualified foreign institutional investors, said in a statement that it is working closely with the China Securities Regulatory Commission to "speed up the QFII process and enlarge the size of investment." The CSRC is responsible for granting QFII licenses and market access to foreign investors.

The government has been stepping up efforts to bring the Chinese currency into convertible status worldwide. In April, it more than doubled quotas for QFIIs from $30 billion to $80 billion. The CSRC is also reviewing possible amendments that will lower entry requirements into China, broaden the types of qualified investors and relax investment scopes and quota limitations.

As of 16 May, China has granted some $26 billion in QFII quotas for 138 qualified investors, SAFE said. Approvals have reached around $4.37 billion since the start of 2012.