The Financial Times
Пекин рассматривает возможность перевода части средств государственных компаний в государственный пенсионный фонд, для того чтобы компенсировать очевидный дефицит, сообщил глава нового фонда газете "The Financial Times" в пятницу. Дефицит, по оценкам экспертов, растет за счет увеличения доли стареющего населения в КНР.
China may shift shares to fund pensionsBy Jamil Anderlini in Suzhou
Published: February 29 2008 22:04 | Last updated: February 29 2008 22:04
Beijing is considering transferring shares from state-owned companies to the national pension fund to help fill a gaping shortfall, the fund’s new head told the Financial Times on Friday.
Dai Xianglong, chairman of the National Council for Social Security Fund, said the government, individuals and companies all had to increase contributions if the $70bn fund was to meet the pension commitments to the country’s ageing workforce.
“In the future it is possible for a portion of domestic public state-owned shares to be transferred to the NCSSF,” said Mr Dai, a former central bank governor, in an interview.
Internal government estimates put the NCSSF’s shortfall at close to $350bn and the funding gap is expected to worsen as the population ages. The government is looking at relaxing the one-child policy to address the problem of a progressively small workforce.
The NCSSF is the largest institutional investor in Hong Kong stocks because of a policy that grants it 10 per cent of all initial public offerings by Chinese state-owned enterprises in that market.
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The transfer of shares to the NCSSF from parent companies of listed firms would act as a stabilising force in the domestic stock market at a time when the lock-up on huge volumes of state-owned shares is expiring and share prices have fallen 30 per cent from highs reached in October last year.
“If the NCSSF gets these shares and says it’s a long-term investor and doesn’t intend to sell quickly, then the market will be reassured,” said Steven Sun, senior China equity strategist at HSBC.
“The fund could help improve corporate governance at listed firms by fulfilling the role pension funds like Calpers do in other markets.”
Mr Dai said the fund would gradually extend its foray into overseas markets, where it had so far invested about $1.7bn through international money managers, but the main focus would be domestic.
In response to a question about a stalled government plan to let Chinese individuals invest directly in Hong Kong shares through trading accounts in Tianjin, Mr Dai said progress was being made.
But no timetable had been decided for the launch of the so-called “through-train” scheme, which was originally scheduled for the fourth quarter last year.
“It is a good thing for Chinese citizens to convert renminbi into foreign currencies and make investments in foreign stock markets,” Mr Dai said. “[But] we need the right conditions and mature circumstances.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
