Three of China's state-owned bad-debt managers said the finance ministry plans to transfer a majority stake in the companies to the nation's sovereign wealth fund as part of moves to overhaul the ownership structure of state financial firms.

In March 2023 China announced plans for a sweeping central government reorganisation, which it said would separate management of financial institutions from regulatory departments and state-owned assets, with assets held by regulatory bodies transferred to designated trusted institutions.

The three asset management companies, China Cinda Asset Management (1359), China Orient Asset Management and China Great Wall Asset Management said in separate statements on Friday that their controlling shareholder, China's finance ministry, plans to transfer its shareholdings to Central Huijin Investment.

Central Huijin, a unit of China Investment Corp, serves as the government's primary vehicle for maintaining ownership stakes in state financial firms. At the end of June it held stakes in 19 financial businesses including state banks, insurers and brokerages.

The finance ministry currently holds a 58 percent stake in China Cinda, a 71.55% stake in China Orient and owns 73.53 percent of China Great Wall. After the transfer, the ministry will no longer hold shares in the three companies, their statements said.

Separately, China Securities Finance, a state company that provides margin financing services in the market, said that its shareholders plan to transfer a 66.7 percent stake in the company to Central Huijin. Its shareholders include the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and China Securities Depository and Clearing.

The stake transfer of the three AMCs was first reported by state media in January last year.

China established four AMCs in 1999 to help to handle bad loans from its four largest state banks but expanded beyond their initial remit and themselves began to pose a risk to the financial system.

REUTERS

China transfers ownership of three bad-debt managers to Central Huijin