(Yicai) May 26 -- China's market regulator has approved Qatar Investment Authority's purchase of a 10 percent stake in China Asset Management, the country's second-largest mutual fund manager by assets.

There is no objection to QIA's wholly-owned subsidiary Qatar Holdings' lawful acquisition of a 10 percent stake in ChinaAMC, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced on May 22.

Once the transfer is completed, Qatar Holdings will become ChinaAMC's third-largest shareholder after Chinese brokerage Citic Securities and Canadian investment firm Mackenzie Investments, which own stakes of 62 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

Qatar Holdings will buy the shares of ChinaAMC from Tianjin Haipeng Technology Consulting, which is owned by Hong Kong-based investment firm Primavera Capital, Yicai previously learned from a person familiar with the matter.

ChinaAMC was founded in Beijing in 1998. As of March 31, it managed 471 fund products with a total net asset value of CNY1.9 trillion (USD264.6 billion), second only to E Fund Management in the Chinese asset management market.

Founded in 2005, QIA is the ninth-largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, with assets of USD526 billion, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute. It has invested in Chinese companies several times in recent years, including a USD200 million investment in Kingdee International Software Group in December 2023.

QIA is not the only Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund that has expanded its footprint in the Chinese market.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Middle East's biggest sovereign wealth fund, was among the top 10 shareholders of 27 companies listed on Chinese mainland stock exchanges as of the end of the first quarter. The total market value of these positions reached CNY11.7 billion (USD1.6 billion), up 31 percent from the end of the previous quarter, according to data from East Money Information.

Kuwait Investment Authority, which is the second-largest sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East after ADIA, had invested in 24 firms listed in the Chinese mainland as of March 31, with their total market capitalization reaching CNY5.5 billion (USD766 million), up 20 percent from Dec. 31, according to East Money.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione