中国养老基金寻求更高的回报投资

For years, the Chinese government has resisted calls for more diversified investment and remained cautious on the pension fund. That is, until now. In a show of confidence, the government released an official draft guideline on Monday that seeks to lift current restrictions and awaken the enormous sleeping capital within the country.

The guideline gives the pension fund the greenlight to invest up to 30 percent of total net assets in the stock market. Under the new policy, the fund would also be allowed to invest in government and corporate bonds, major national construction projects and leading state-owned enterprises, so long as they're all made in the domestic market.

And the fund size is significant. With the number of people enrolling in the pension scheme increasing by 7 percent annually, the fund pool has grown over 20% annually in the past 5 years, reaching a total of over 3 trillion yuan, or around 500 billion US dollars in 2014. But many have criticized the fund's rigid management and low returns.

Up to now, roughly 90 percent of the fund has only been deposited in banks or invested in treasury bonds, with an annual return of less than 3 percent. That's even less than the country's deposit rate, and much lower than other countries, such as Sweden and the US. It estimated that, after adjusting for inflation, China's pension fund had depreciated by nearly 100 billion yuan in the past 20 years.

In the bigger picture, the latest move is also an attempt by the government to address the problems of a rapidly ageing population. One in three citizens will be over the age of 65 by 2050. And pensions for workers living in urban centers usually equals about half of their previous salaries. To offset this growing expense, strict limits have been placed on what the fund will be able to invest in. And fund managers will also be asked to set up reserve funds valued at 20 percent of management fees and 1 percent of yearly returns.