STATE-OWNED China Cinda Asset Management Corp has unveiled four strategic investors with a total investment of 10.4 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) as it prepares for a future initial public offering, the company said yesterday.

After the investment, the four strategic investors - National Social Security Fund, UBS, Citic Capital and Standard Chartered Bank - would own 16.54 percent of the company's equity.

"According to the reform plan approved by the State Council, Cinda will choose a proper time to conduct a public listing in domestic and overseas markets after introducing strategic investors," the company said in a statement, without saying how much it plans to raise from the IPO.

Wang Zhongmin, vice chairman of the national pension fund, yesterday said they will invest 5 billion yuan in Cinda for an 8 percent stake. The investment will make the pension fund Cinda's second-largest shareholder after the Ministry of Finance.

Cinda is one of four financial restructuring companies established by the government to remove bad debts of China's major state-owned banks by swapping bad debt for equity. It has helped clear the bad debt of China Construction Bank.