Harvest Fund Management Co Ltd, a Deutsche Bank AG fund joint venture, said it has won regulatory approval to launch its first fund product under China's qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) scheme.

The product will be launched on Oct 9.

The fund will mainly invest in the Hong Kong stock market and in companies listed on the Singapore and US stock exchanges that derive at least 50 pct of their core revenue from China, it said.

Financial derivatives will also be an investment option.

Minimum investment in the fund can be as low as 5,000 yuan, but the figure would represent a higher level than that required by China Southern Fund Management Co Ltd and China Asset Management Co Ltd (China AMC).

China Southern Fund and China AMC had set minimum investment for their QDII funds at as low as 1,000 yuan.

China AMC will launch its first QDII fund product tomorrow, following China Southern Fund's successful QDII fund launch earlier.

China's securities regulator may put on hold approvals for fund managers to launch general equity funds in a bid to support other offerings under the QDII scheme, industry sources told XFN-Asia yesterday.

China International Fund, Fortis Haitong Investment Management and Fortune SGAM Fund are preparing their QDII products but they are still awaiting approval from the securities regulator, according to sources.

So far, four fund joint ventures -- Harvest Fund Management, China International Fund Management, Fortis Haitong Investment Management and Fortune SGAM Fund Management -- have been granted QDII licenses.

In June, the China Securities Regulatory Commission allowed brokerages and fund management companies to use client funds to invest in overseas fixed income, stocks and financial derivatives, effective July 5.

In July, Harvest Fund became the first China fund joint venture to obtain a QDII license.

Harvest appointed its foreign shareholder, Deutsche Asset Management, a Deutsche Bank unit, as overseas investment adviser.

The joint venture, with registered capital of 100 mln yuan, was founded in March 1999 as one of the first 10 fund management institutions authorized by the Chinese government.

China Credit Trust Co Ltd holds 48 pct stake in the fund joint venture, while Li Xin Investment Co Ltd holds 32.5 pct and Deutsche Asset Management has the remaining 19.5 pct.