South Korea's central bank said Monday that it opened an office in Shanghai in a bid to better monitor the Chinese markets.

The Bank of Korea said the new office in Shanghai will help it get better access to Chinese market information on a real-time basis as it has recently been granted a license to join China's qualified foreign institutional investor program.

According to the BOK, it marks the first time a foreign central bank has established two offices in mainland China.

The BOK opened its Beijing office in 2003, becoming the first foreign central bank to launch an office in China. It also has been operating an office in Hong Kong since 1984.

In January, the central bank earned approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to invest in yuan-denominated stocks and bonds.

Those securities issued by mainland China-based companies in the financial markets of Shanghai and Shenzhen are generally only available for purchase by mainland citizens.

Foreign investment in the Chinese-currency based bonds and shares, called A-shares, is only allowed through a tightly-regulated structure under the QFII system.

The BOK added it received a regulated investment quota of $300 million from the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange earlier on Monday.

(Yonhap)