SHANGHAI - CHINA'S long-awaited state investment company, which is set to manage part of its massive foreign exchange reserves, will be formally launched on Sept 28, state press said on Wednesday.

Lou Jiwei, a former vice finance minister, will be chairman of the new company while Gao Xiqing, vice chairman of the social security fund, will be appointed as the general manager, China Business News reported.

China's forex reserves, the world's largest, surpassed US$1.33 trillion (S$2 trillion) at the end of June, with about 70 per cent generally believed to be held in US dollar denominated paper, principally US government bonds.

The new agency is tasked with diversifying and maximising returns on part of the country's huge forex reserves.

It has already invested US$3 billion of foreign exchange reserves in US private equity group Blackstone in May, despite not being launched formally. -- AFP