BEIJING - Quotas of $81.1 billion had been awarded under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFII) program by the end of May, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) announced on Tuesday.

It was a slight increase from $80.1 billion recorded at the end of April.

As of the end of May, the outstanding quota under the renminbi-denominated Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) program totalled 502 billion yuan ($77.2 billion).

The government introduced the QFII and RQFII programs in 2003 and 2011 respectively. They give foreign investors the right to move money into the capital account to encourage controllable flows.