(Yicai Global) Aug. 12 -- China's social security fund, which manages assets worth over CNY2 trillion (USD283 billion), plans to pump more money into innovative science and technology companies.

The National Social Security Fund is long-term focused and so should increase investment in such firms, improve their corporate governance and promote the upgrade of China's economic development, the National Council for Social Security Fund's Vice Chairman Wang Wenling said at a meeting with the fund's brokers last week.

The NSSF and securities companies should serve as a beacon for national economic and financial policies and help stabilize the market, Wang added in his speech, which the council published in a press release today.

Social security funds and brokerages need to increase control over risks in cross-industry and cross-market investments, abnormal market volatility, external factors and insufficient liquidity to promote a healthier and more dynamic economic and financial environment, he continued.

China set up the NSSF in 2000 and uses it to supplement social security expenses, such as pension insurance, as the nation's average age increases.

By the end of last year, the fund had over CNY2.2 trillion in assets and had accumulated some CNY955 billion (USD135 billion) in income since 2001, with an average annual return of 7.82 percent, according to official data. It is an important long-term investor in China's financial market.

Editor: James Boynton