Before 17 November 2014, foreign investors only had exposure to Chinese equities via Chinese listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Only institutional investors were given access to the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges via the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) and Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) programmes. For the average onshore retail investor, there was no option to own investments outside of China except through onshore Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) products.
