China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange had granted $51.4 billion of investment quotas to 235 qualified foreign institutional investors (QFIIs), and 167.8 billion yuan ($27.67 billion) to 57 renminbi QFIIs as of January 27.

Foreign investors have to be licensed as QFII or renminbi QFII, two programs created in 2002 and 2011, respectively, allowing qualified investors to trade a limited quota in China's largely isolated capital market.

QFIIs opened 45 new A-share accounts in China last December, a monthly record for 2013, according to the China Security Depository and Clearing Co. Ltd. This marked the 24th consecutive month in which QFIIs have opened accounts in China's A-share markets.