Massive fund to boost reform of SOEs

China launched a State venture capital fund worth 200 billion yuan ($30.2 billion) to push forward innovative technologies and industrial upgrading projects, the country's top State-owned assets regulator said on Thursday.

The fund, the largest of its kind approved by the State Council, the country's cabinet, will also aim to follow through on national strategies and promote State-owned enterprise cooperation, according to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

Meng Jianmin, vice-chairman of the SASAC, said during the inaugural meeting that the establishment of the State venture capital investment fund will help support innovative enterprises and SOE reform.

"The central government placed great emphasis on this, as the fund will optimize the allocation of State assets to promote the development of a mixed-ownership economic system," he said.

The first-phase investment will raise up to 100 billion yuan including capital from China Reform Holdings Corp Ltd, China Postal Savings Bank Co, China Construction Bank Corp and Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co.

But the main sponsor and controlling shareholder is China Reform Holdings, which will finance 34 billion yuan in the first investment, with the rest from other companies.

The move came as China focuses on its industrial firms, both State-owned and private, which need to be upgraded and climb the value chain through innovation, experts said.

Li Jin, chief researcher at the China Enterprise Institute, said that the fund will inject vitality into industrial sector and trigger a trillion-dollar market for emerging industries through venture capital investment.

Bai Xin from Shenzhen-based KCH Capital Management Group Co Ltd said it is a sign that the government is encouraging more capital into the industrial sector to avoid a big financial bubble.