China is to treble the amount of money that foreigners can invest in the mainland capital market, making the long-awaited announcement on the eve of this week’s high-level economic summit between Chinese and US policymakers.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the country’s foreign exchange regulator, said on its website on Sunday that the quota for registered foreign investors would be increased from $10bn to $30bn. It could take several months before institutional investors secure fresh quotas.