(Yicai) May 18 -- Foreign financial institutions swelled their holdings of Chinese mainland shares by CNY67.5 billion (USD9.9 billion) in the first quarter, though the buying was selective rather than broad-based. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority was the biggest foreign buyer of so-called A-shares in the period.

Foreign investors appeared among the top 10 shareholders of 1,521 mainland-listed companies in the three months ended March 31, according to statistics from Wind Information. They owned a total of 11.5 billion A-shares worth about CNY195.1 billion (USD28.6 billion), up by 4.6 billion shares and CNY67.5 billion, respectively, from a year earlier.

During the quarter, qualified foreign institutional investors took new positions in 685 stocks, added to 473, and trimmed 336. Among the new positions, panel makers and resource leaders were especially prominent. At 300 million, BOE Technology Group topped the list for the number of shares bought by QFIIs, followed by TCL Technology at 166 million, Zijin Mining Group at 141 million, and Southwest Pharmaceutical at 113 million.

By market value, Zijin Mining was the largest newly added holding, with the ADIA buying CNY4.63 billion (USD679.4 million) of the gold miner’s equity. TFC Optical Communication was second, with Morgan Stanley and UBS Group buying a total of CNY3.71 billion of shares in optical fiber components maker. Its peer InnoLight Technology came third, after Morgan Stanley opened a position worth CNY3.7 billion.

The market value of the ADIA’s A-share holdings more than tripled to CNY19.52 billion as of March 31 from the end of last year. It mainly bought into BOE, TCL Technology, Zijin Mining, and Shengyi Technology.

Through its two QDIIs, Goldman Sachs was among the top 10 shareholders of 894 mainland-listed firms at the end of the quarter, with substantial changes in its holdings. It newly bought into 525 companies, increased ownership in 219, including Highsun Meida New Materials and Huafang, and pared holdings in 150, such as Pengling Group and Sanxia New Building.

Morgan Stanley focused more on the artificial intelligence computing power industry chain. It was among the top 10 shareholders of 316 listed businesses in the quarter. It acquired new positions in 249, added to 34, and reduced 33, owning A-shares worth about CNY17.2 billion as of March 31.

Morgan Stanley's top three biggest holdings were InnoLight and TFC Communication in the optical communication sector, and China XD Electric in the power equipment sector.

Editor: Futura Costaglione