China's planned qualified domestic individual investor program, known as QDII-2, may allow investors to buy securities products in the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEx), according to a Shanghai Securities News report on June 28.

China's central bank has decided to set up the QDII-2 pilot program in south China's Guangdong Province, and is waiting for final approval from the State Council.

The investment scheme will first target HKEx and then expand to other financial products in the Hong Kong market, and gradually to products in other parts of the world.

Qualified domestic individual investors should have three years of experience in stock investment and financial assets equivalent to no less than 1.5 million yuan ($244,000).

The lower and upper limits of a single individual investor for overseas investment are set at 500,000 yuan ($81,600) and 20 million yuan ($3.26 million) respectively.

To control risks, QDII-2 funds should circulate in a special account. It cannot be transferred into elsewhere, said the document.

Currently, only institutional investors in China can invest in overseas capital markets, via the qualified domestic institutional investor program, or QDII-1.