The growth potential of China's Internet finance market has attracted state-owned entities to buy stakes in one of its major private companies.
The national Social Security Fund (SSF) has recently bought a 5-percent stake in Ant Financial Services Group, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group's Internet finance affiliate, a senior SFF official revealed at a fund industry forum on Thursday.
"The value of Internet finance in China's securitization market will double in the near future, and the SSF has realized its great potential," said Wang Zhongmin, vice president of the national council for the SSF.` This is the SSF's first investment in a private company, Wang said, without specifying the exact amount of money invested.
Ant Financial also confirmed the investment on its official Sina Weibo account the same day.
The company also sold smaller stakes to state entities China Development Bank Capital Co. and China Life Insurance Co. earlier this month.
Ant Financial Services Group was launched in October 2014 to oversee Alibaba financial services entities and tap more deeply into the lucrative financial market, largely focusing on small enterprises and individual consumers.
The SFF was founded in 2000 to support elder care services, as the country faces pressure from an ageing population, and to serve as a strategic reserve for future social security spending.
By the end of 2014, the fund had invested 170 billion yuan (23.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the equity market with an 8.38-percent return on investment every year, according to its annual report.
