(Yicai Global) Dec. 7 -- Ping An Asset Management Co., a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. [SHA: 601318; HKG: 2318], bought 10 million shares in HSBC Holdings Plc [HKG: 0005] via 'Southbound Trading Link,' thus becoming one of the important investors of HSBC.

Data disclosed by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange of Hong Kong show that Ping An Asset Management bought 10 million shares of HSBC at the price of HKD77.7 (USD9.97) per share on Dec. 5, investing nearly HKD780 million. Following the new purchase, Ping An Asset Management now holds a total of 1.018 billion shares in HSBC, accounting for 5.01 percent of its voting shares issued.

Ping An indicated that investing in HSBC, which it said is a company with sound business performance and dividends, represents a financial investment, and conforms to the principle for asset-liability matching of the insurance funds under the administration of Ping An Asset Management.

HSBC said Ping An is a non-state-run public company with excellent governance and stable operation. Thanks to the long-term and friendly partnership with Ping An, HSBC welcomes the firm to be its long-term investor.

HSBC registered USD17.4 billion in the adjusted pre-tax profit in the first three quarters of this year, up 8 percent year-on-year, publicly available data show. When it comes to dividends, HSBC paid USD0.51 per share in cumulative terms in the past 12 months. Currently, the price/book value ratio of HSBC is 1.05 times.