SSF investment in SOEs mapped out

China's National Council for Social Security Fund (SSF) will continue to invest in the country's centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOE) through multiple channels, an official said Thursday.

Dai Xianglong, chairman of the SSF, which manages the country's fiscal allocation of security funds, said his group and the central SOEs had close ties as its funds generated through state-owned shares reduction and transferring had reached 210 billion yuan (33.34 billion U.S. dollars) since its establishment.

Meanwhile, the SSF has used some of its money to support development of SOEs, mainly via equity investments, entrusting management bodies to buy SOE stocks and parking deposits in state-controlled banks, according to Dai.

Under Chinese regulation, the SSF is allowed to channel as much as 20 percent of its funds into direct investment in SOEs that are under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and state-controlled financial companies that are managed by the Ministry of Finance.

A maximum of 10 percent can be put in equity investments, part of which will go to state-controlled enterprises with growth potential, Dai said.

He said the SSF will continue to play a positive role in SOE's business restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, their development in emerging industries and their "going global", adding the SSF will explore new ways to cooperate with SOEs, such as through preferred stocks.

As of the end of 2011, assets under SSF management has reached 868.9 billion yuan.