China's National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has decided to invest in yuan-denominated private equity funds, its chairman, Dai Xianglong, said in Tianjin on Tuesday.

He confirmed an earlier report by the 21st Century Business Herald that the fund would invest in two funds of domestic private equity firms.

Apart from picking up two yuan-denominated funds being raised by CDH Investments and Hony Capital, the fund was also engaging in frequent contacts with domestic and international investment banks, said Dai at the two-day China International Private Equity Forum that started on Tuesday.

Such NSSF investments in industry funds and private equity funds had just been approved by the country's State Council, China's Cabinet, on June 5.

The pension fund had invested 10 billion yuan in the domestic Bohai Fund in 2006, the country's first industry fund, with special approval from authorities.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2008)