(Yicai Global) Oct. 18 -- Seven more Chinese asset management firms announced plans yesterday to purchase their own fund products in a bid to shore up confidence in the stock market.

China Asset Management, Harvest Fund, China Merchants Fund, and ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management are set to spend CNY100 million (USD13.9 million) each on their own products, mostly equity funds. Zhong Ou Asset Management plans to invest CNY50 million (USD7 million), Hua An Funds CNY30 million and Huatai Asset Management CNY10 million.

They join E Fund Management, China’s largest public fund company, Southern Asset Management, China Universal Asset Management, Zhongtai Securities Asset Management, GF Fund Management and Guotai Junan Securities Asset Management which set out plans the same day to buy CNY660 million (USD92 million) of their own products.

The 13 companies will spend nearly CNY1.2 billion (USD160 million) in total.

It is the third time this year that asset managers have acted collectively to buy their own offerings, following similar announcements in January and March. Some 125 public institutions have acquired equities in 682 of their own funds, with a net subscription of CNY6.4 billion (USD890 million) as of Oct. 17, according to data from Wind Information.

Big collective buying rounds like this usually happen when the stock market has pulled back sharply, sources in the fund industry told Yicai Global. A number said their investment plans are based on confidence in the market and their firms, and are intended to send a positive signal and buoy investor confidence.

Chinese stocks have sunk this year. The Shanghai Composite Index has lost 15.3 percent, while the Shenzhen Component Index has stumbled 25 percent, and the ChiNext Index by more than 26 percent. All three benchmarks gained yesterday and today.

Editor: Martin Kadiev