China's Pension Fund to Invest in China Devt Bank

China's National Social Security Fund (NSSF) will invest into the China Development Bank (CDB), NSSF chairman Dai Xianglong, said on Sunday at the Summer Davos forum.

The CDB, which mainly lends to key national projects, is undergoing share-holding transformation to turn itself into a commercial bank. A stockholding company would be set up soon, according to early reports.

The NSSF would invest in the CDB and a series of other financial institutions as the fund is diversifying investment channel, Dai said, without elaborating.

NSSF would also increase investments in the country's equity market. "This will be good for the stability of the stock market," he said.

According to Dai, the pension fund has invested into the Beijing-Shanghai express railway, Bank of China, Bank of Communications and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The assets of the pension fund would reach one trillion yuan (146.6 billion U.S. dollars) by 2010, and exceed seven trillion yuan when adding insurance premium incomes and annuities, he said.

The NSSF had assets of 439.69 billion yuan at the end of 2007, an increase of 156.80 billion yuan from 2006.

In April, the State Council, the Cabinet, approved that the pension fund could invest no more than 20 percent of its total assets into industrial and commercial enterprises and 10 percent in private equity funds.