China asset management company inaugurated as joint stock company

China Great Wall Asset Management Co Ltd took a step forward in transforming from the former wholly State-owned distressed asset manager into a joint stock company during its inauguration in Beijing on Friday.

With registered capital of 43.15 billion yuan ($6.23 billion), the corporation was established by the Ministry of Finance, the National Council for Social Security Fund and China Life Insurance (Group) Company.

Also on Friday, China Great Wall held its first meetings of the board of directors and board of supervisors. Zhang Xiaosong, president of the asset manager, was elected chairman and president of the new company. Hu Yongkang, former director of the China Banking Regulatory Commission's treasury and accounting department, was elected chief supervisor.

"We're planning to complete the introduction of strategic investors in the third quarter of 2017 or at the end of next year. Meanwhile, we'll start preparatory work for an initial public offering in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong," Zhang Shixue, general manager of the asset management company's strategic development department, said at a news conference.

China Great Wall is the last of the four largest State-owned asset management companies in China to complete the reform of instituting a stockholding system into State-owned enterprises, following the unveiling ceremony of China Orient Asset Management Co Ltd in October as a commercialized State-controlled company. China Cinda Asset Management Co Ltd listed in 2013 and China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd also did so in 2015, both in Hong Kong.

As of the end of September, the on-balance-sheet and off-balance-sheet assets of China Great Wall totaled 583 billion yuan, and the net assets were 49.1 billion yuan, more than four times the registered capital of 10 billion yuan when the company was first founded in 1999.