China's national pension fund invested as much as 15 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion) in shares of listed overseas companies, and will add to the holdings to boost returns, Zhan Yuyin, director general of global investment, told a conference in Hong Kong.

The National Council for Social Security Fund committed less than 2 billion yuan to local private equity funds after a recent rule allowing such investments, Zhan told Bloomberg News on the sideline of the Super Return Asia conference in Hong Kong yesterday. "From an investment perspective, we want to diversify and try to have more exposure outside of China and Asia," Zhan told the conference.

(Shanghai Daily September 25, 2008)