US investment firm, BlackRock, has raised RMB 6.7 billion ($1 billion) for its first mutual fund in China. The world’s largest asset manager is pushing forward with its expansion into the country’s lucrative savings market, despite worries over the political climate, reports the Financial Times.
BlackRock, which became the first global group to gain approval for a wholly owned Chinese mutual fund business in June, said it closed fundraising a week earlier than expected and brought in more than 110,000 investors.
The move is part of a wider push by international finance into China’s rapidly growing $19 trillion asset management market, even in the face of rising geopolitical tensions with the US.
But this latest announcement came after a dramatic recent shift in tone from Beijing, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s administration is seeking to strengthen regulations over industries from tech to education and has unveiled a “common prosperity” drive to redistribute wealth.