China's Huijin new shares purchases: banks

Central Huijin Investment Ltd, an arm of China's sovereign wealth fund, pledged to buy further shares in the nation's three largest listed banks after a new purchase round, the lenders said Monday.

The news comes after Huijin bought more shares in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

And the investment vehicle sid it would continue buying into the lenders over the next 12 months, the state-run banks said in statements to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Huijin, which is wholly owned by China Investment Corp, increased its stake in ICBC to 35.42 percent from 35.41 percent after buying 30 million shares, the nation's largest bank said.

It also bought 5.1 million shares in Bank of China, boosting its stake to 67.53 percent, and 16.1 million shares in China Construction Bank, raising its interest to 57.09 percent, the banks said.

The purchases came after the lenders said last month that Huijin had completed a year-long programme starting September 23, 2008, to buy their shares.

Cash-rich Huijin began buying into the lenders to shore up their share prices and stabilise the stock market, which slumped at the time amid the global financial crisis.

Analysts said while the size of the latest share purchases was not big, the move signalled the government's intention to prop up confidence in the markets and ease worries over excessive share supply.