A Beijing-backed fund has increased its shareholdings in China’s four biggest banks, spurring hopes for further moves to boost sentiment towards the country’s ailing stock market.The state-controlled Central Huijin fund invested more than Rmb477mn ($63mn) in China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China. Shares in the four lenders gained on Thursday, with those in CCB — the country’s second-largest lender by assets — up by as much as 3.6 per cent.
The investments by Central Huijin, already the main shareholder of the four banks, were the first such purchases for eight years and helped to lift the broader market.
China’s benchmark CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed shares was up 0.5 per cent, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises index in Hong Kong rose almost 2 per cent.