Beijing, March 19 (Xinhua) The Chinese government has decided to ease the limits on individual investments abroad.

The government would broaden channels for investment overseas, said Li Dongrong, vice director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

The Shanghai Security Journal Monday reported that Li was speaking at a meeting on the country's capital investment plan for 2007.

The analysts say the move indicated a major breakthrough in allowing Chinese individuals to buy overseas financial assets.

Currently, Chinese individuals can only buy investment products provided by banks and fund management companies if they want to invest abroad under a Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII) scheme.

The SAFE granted 15 banks overseas investment quotas totalling $13.4 billion in 2006. Fifteen insurance companies were granted overseas investment quotas of $5.17 billion and one fund management company was given a quota of $500 million.

The government would also increase the number of QDIIs and the value of their investment quotas, Li said. No details of quotas were available.

China has also eased control on foreign exchange purchases by individuals. The annual quota for individuals was raised from $20,000 to $50,000 this year.