BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's foreign exchange authority has awarded additional investment quotas totaling 350 million U.S. dollars to two qualified foreign institutional investors (QFII).

    Morgan Stanley received an investment quota of 200 million dollars and Goldman Sachs 150 million dollars from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

    Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, two of the main U.S.-based international financial service firms, both have their largest investments in China's A-share market on the Shanghai-based Baoshan Iron and Steel Company.

    The government launched the QFII pilot program in 2003, allowing foreign institutional investors such as the UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Citigroup Global Markets Limited to engage in the securities business on the Chinese mainland.

    Since then, the regulator has been making efforts to improve rules and regulations in a bid to open the stock market wider to foreign investment.

    To date, 45 foreign investment institutions have been approved as QFIIs and SAFE has awarded investment quotas totaling 7.84 billion dollars. Enditem