China's state pension fund permitted to invest overseas
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-04-30 08:52
China's State Security Fund Council said Saturday it has been approved by the
Chinese government to begin to invest overseas as of May 1 of this year.
The move was made possible after the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of
Labor and Social Security and the People's Bank of China, the country's central
bank, approved provisional regulations governing the overseas investment of the
fund last month. The regulations will be effective as of May 1.
The fund
was set up in 2000 by the Chinese government as a strategic reserve for its
ageing population, and its total asset was valued at 201.02 billion yuan
(US$25.1 billion) by the end of 2005.
The fund mainly comes from
budgetary allocation from the Ministry of Finance, revenues from sales of shares
of State-owned firms listed overseas.
According to the investment plan
unveiled last month, up to US$800 million will be used for share investment in
overseas markets while up to US$300 million will be invested overseas in
products with fixed returns.
Overseas investment will help the fund to
explore more investment opportunities, diversify investment risks and maintain
and increase the value of the fund.
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