The Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII; ) is a program that was launched in 2002 in People's Republic of China to allow licensed foreign investors to buy and sell yuan-denominated "A" shares in China's mainland stock exchanges (in Shanghai and Shenzhen). Chinese mainland stock exchanges were previously closed off to foreign investors due to China's exercise of tight capital controls which restrict the movement of assets in-and-out of the country.