From Reuters (link)

China on Friday issued joint regulations that will open up the channels for Chinese institutional investors to invest abroad and relax controls on Chinese firms and individuals buying foreign exchange.

The long-awaited moves to allow more outflows of foreign currency, which would decrease upward pressure on the yuan, come before a visit to the United States by Chinese President Hu Jintao later this month and follow China’s foreign reserves surpassing of Japan’s as the world’s largest.

China’s end-February reserves stood at $853.6 billion, prompting calls by government researchers for China to rein in their rapid growth.