China is considering letting its Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors (QDIIs) launch funds to invest in securities both at home and abroad in a new financial innovation, a stock regulator was quoted saying on Wednesday.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is working on new QDII regulations among a range of measures.

The move is to boost the mutual fund industry, Li Haichao, a CSRC official in charge of the fund sector, was quoted by the official China Securities Journal on Wednesday.

China launched the quota-based QDII programme about a decade ago.

The program is intended to allow Chinese citizens buy shares in foreign companies through mutual funds as part of its financial opening.

Although until now investment has been confined to overseas securities.

Authorities have granted a total of $150 billion to the QDII investors.

By the end of August, the outstanding amount of the QDII program stood at $89.99 billion, the latest official data showed.