A consortium that included the Chinese government was the biggest buyer of a 5 percent stake in China Construction Bank Corp sold last month by Bank of America, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the National Social Security Fund and Citic Securities bought the CCB shares, the FT said, citing unnamed sources. The Chinese government role has been a closely guarded secret as it comes amid fears that Chinese bank stocks will raise additional capital and dilute the stakes of current investors, the FT said. There has been concern that loans and other assets held by CCB and other Chinese banks.