(Yicai Global) Jan. 3 -- Insurer China Pacific Insurance and brokerage Guotai Junan Securities are among the first Chinese firms to participate in a new CNY10 billion (USD1.4 billion) private equity fund targeting the hi-tech industry in the Yangtze River Delta region, which encompasses Shanghai and the surrounding area.

Pacific Insurance has committed to purchasing CNY600 million (USD86.7 million) worth of shares in Yangtze River Delta Collaborative Leading (Shanghai) Private Fund Partnership, also known as the YRD Fund II, the Shanghai-based company said on Dec. 30.

Guotai Junan is contributing CNY700 million, it said on Dec. 15. Airport operator Shanghai International Airport will invest CNY495 million and fintech firm Hundsun Technologies CNY100 million (USD14.5 million), they said on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30 respectively.

This is the second Yangtze River Delta industry fund set up by state-owned institutional investor Shanghai International Group, which owns a 10.6 percent stake in Pacific Insurance and 30 percent in Guotai Junan. The first fund was formed in 2018 and has invested in nearly 800 technology projects so far.

The YRD Fund II, which will focus on digital intelligence, semiconductors and biomedicine, will promote in-depth integration of the industrial chain in the Yangtze River Delta region, help hi-tech firms develop faster and promote the formation of leading industrial clusters as part of the country’s strategy of boosting integration in the region, Pacific Insurance said. It will be managed by Shanghai-based Growth Capital.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor