Chinese authorities have granted Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) an initial $300 million quota to buy yuan-denominated stocks and bonds, enabling it to diversify its assets.

Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund can initially invest up to $300 million in mainland China's securities market as a qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII), according to an announcement by China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), state news agency Kuna reported.

KIA had applied for the full $1 billion investment quota, the maximum amount that a single QFII can obtain from SAFE, Kuna said. It added that SAFE could give KIA the opportunity to increase the quota every month until it reaches that level.

Kuwait, one of the world's top crude exporters, has a sovereign wealth fund managing assets in excess of $290 billion. 
While Gulf funds have historically preferred to invest in Europe, many may turn their gaze eastward as growth slows and commercial ties deepen between the regions. - Reuters