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ADB eyes foreign mandate candidates

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) by the end of this month will award two technical assistance mandates to foreign consultants to help with China's pension reforms, according to a senior bank official.

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Mandate candidates included foreign fund management companies, accounting firms and pension consultants, all of whom had technical assistance experience with the ADB or the World Bank, ADB senior financial economist Hong Wei told FinanceAsia.

In November last year, the ADB announced it had given China a US$1 million technical-assistance grant to help reform the mainland's pension system.

Of that grant, the ADB allocated US$400,000 to employ a consultant for the National Council for Social Security Funds, a new, universal state pension system.

Beijing set up the system two years ago to help fund pension payments in China's poorer provinces.

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By the end of last year, there was 80.5 billion yuan (about HK$75.43 billion) in the National Social Security Funds, according to mainland media reports. However, 64.59 per cent was deposited in banks and 32.82 per cent in treasury bonds in line with present rules governing the fund.

The National Council soon would issue final guidelines on where the National Council for Social Security Funds would be allowed to invest, Mr Wei said.

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