The national pension agency has invested in the country's first industry development fund, which may debut next month to finance economic expansion in the northeast municipality of Tianjin, a government official said Thursday.

The National Council for Social Security, which has 230 billion yuan (US$29 billion) under management, has poured "more than 1 billion yuan" into the Bohai Industry Investment Fund, council Chairman Xiang Huaicheng told reporters at a financial forum in Beijing.

The Bohai fund, which initially aims to raise 20 billion yuan from state and private investors, may start operation in Tianjin next month to spur growth in the city's Binhai economic zone, Mayor Dai Xianglong said early this month.

The fund has been approved by the State Council. Former Citigroup banker Francis Leung is being asked to take a top management position, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday.

"It's the first time the social security fund has invested in industrial development," Xiang said. "If the investment goes well, we plan to take part in other industries."

Chinese authorities are striving to tap private funding sources, and the massive national pension agency plans to develop its own key economic projects to ease reliance on the government.

The central government is studying a plan to let the nation's biggest banks expand into private equity and venture capital market, a step toward lifting a ban on their investment in non-core businesses, according to the SCMP.

The Bohai fund will likely purchase stakes in both state-held and startup private firms in the city's economic zone, with a focus on high-technology businesses, according to Dai.

Regulators are also working on a plan to give the welfare pension fund special approval to trade bonds and invest in money markets abroad, according to Xiang.

The move would be in line with a nationwide program to let financial institutions help clients trade securities overseas to reduce mounting foreign-exchange reserves and boost returns on investments.

The welfare fund may invest between US$500 million and US$800 million in capital markets abroad in the fourth quarter.

(Shanghai Daily September 22, 2006)