China's Social Security Fund racked up investment gains of 61.9
billion yuan (US$7.94 billion) last year, at a yield of 29
percent.
Capital investments excluding strategic equity investment income
contributed 42.4 billion yuan, said Xiang Huaicheng, chairman of
the National Social Security Fund Council.
The Fund's long-term equity investments include 10 billion yuan
in the Bank of Communications, 15 million euros in China-Belgium
Fund, 10 billion yuan in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of
China, 10 billion yuan in the Bank of China and one billion yuan in
the Tianjin-based Bohai Industrial Fund.
Xiang did not disclose when these investments were made nor how
much had been earned.
To secure itself against losses, the pension fund limits stock
market investments to 30 percent of holdings even though the stock
market contributed 50 percent of last year's income, said
Xiang.
Statistics show the Fund's stock investments account for
approximately 24 percent of total holdings.
The current bullish stock market may see the value of the Fund's
shareholdings increase as a percentage of total assets, said
Xiang.
He also said the fund launched its first overseas investment in
December 2006 and the 850-million-U.S.-dollar investment had so far
yielded 2.02 percent.
The Social Security Fund was established in 2000 as part of
China's effort to build a national social security network to cope
with the growing needs of its aging population.
Total assets of the fund reached 255.4 billion yuan at the end
of September last year, compared with 211.78 billion yuan at the
end of 2005.
(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2007)