(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-29 16:37

The number of fund management companies in China's mainland hit 60 with the recent approval of the ABC-CA Fund Management Co Ltd by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

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Three companies are sharing the stock of the new fund company registered in Shanghai. The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) holds 51.67 percent of the shares while Banque Indosuez, an agricultural lender based in France, and the Aluminum Corporation of China Limited Company holds 33.33 percent and 15 percent respectively.

ABC vice president Yang Kun assumes the post of board chairman, while Xu Hongbo is general manager. Its investment director is award-winning fund manager Luan Jie.

The new company is seen as an important step in financial management for ABC, the result of longtime cooperation between the two agricultural banks of China and France, Yang said.

The company is currently preparing its first fund.

After the founding of ABC-CA Fund Management Co Ltd, the four state-run commercial banks have now all have accomplished establishing joint venture fund companies.

ABC, one of the four state-run commercial banks, owns the largest business network in China. Banque Indosuez, founded in 1875, is the biggest bank in France, second largest in Europe and fourth globally. The lender has 25 years of asset management experience in Asia.

The third shareholder, Aluminum Corporation of China Limited Company, is the country's largest alumina and aluminium producer. It is also the world's second biggest alumina producer.