Central Huijin Investment Ltd, an arm of China’s sovereign wealth fund, bought shares in four major Chinese State-owned banks on the secondary market on Monday, the company told Xinhua.
The four banks include the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Bank of China (BOC) and China Construction Bank (CCB), according to the company.
The move is aimed at supporting the steady operation and development of major financial institutions and stabilizing their stock prices, the company said.
via China buys its banks – macrobusiness.com.au | macrobusiness.com.au.
Could be the first step in a bailout.
Buying shares in a bank is not the same as owning a bank. The Govt as a shareholder in a company run for the benefit of the shareholders is not the same as a country owning the asset, which is then run for the benefit of the people of the country. We here in NZ have felt the difference when our assets, owned and paid for by us, were sold off without asking us (I call this legalised theft). Since then the gap between rich and poor (in a country which used to have a very small gap) has expanded enormously, prices of power and phones have gone up, safety has gone down, our railways were run into the ground before the Govt bought them back at a huge loss to us (but better we own them) and unemployment has increased. China did NOT buy back it’s banks. It has invested in private banks.