The Chinese government will boost its stakes in the country’s largest banks to help shore up financial stocks and restore investor confidence. China’s sovereign wealth fund, will buy shares in Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Xinhua said the move would “support the healthy operations and development of key state-owned financial institutions and stabilise the share prices of state-owned commercial banks”. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011