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China has told state-owned insurance funds to invest more in the country’s domestic stock market as authorities try to boost equities.
This is the first time regulators have set explicit investment targets for mutual funds and state-owned insurance companies.
State-owned insurers will be encouraged to allocate at least 30 per cent of new premiums each year to Chinese shares starting this year, Wu Qing, chair of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said on Thursday.
Mutual fund managers will be urged to increase their holdings of Chinese stocks by 10 per cent annually over the next three years, he added.
China has consistently sought to attract pension funds and other long-term investments to bolster its equity markets.
The move, first announced on Wednesday evening by the CSRC, aims to “stabilise the stock market, clear the bottlenecks for the entry of medium and long-term funds into the market”.
Chinese equities rallied on Thursday, with the mainland’s CSI 300 index adding 1.5 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng benchmark rising 1.2 per cent.
Chinese insurance companies listed in Hong Kong such as China Life Insurance and Ping An Insurance rose 6.3 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively.
This is a developing story.
