(Yicai Global) Jan. 9 -- Principal Financial Group, one of the largest managers of 401(k) plans in the United States, has purchased a 17.6 percent stake in China Construction Bank Pension Management, marking the first foreign investment in the Chinese field of bank-backed pension funds.

PFG bought the stake on Dec. 28, and as a result, China Construction bank’s holding fell to 70 percent, while that of the National Council of Social Security Fund of China was reduced to 12.4 percent, CCB, one of China's four big banks, wrote in a statement posted on its WeChat account recently.

Iowa-headquartered PFG and CCB are deepening their cooperation. The Beijing-based lender and the American financial giant agreed to increase their collaboration in 2016 after establishing CCB Principal Asset Management in 2005.

CCBP is the first domestic pension manager jointly established by CCB and the NSSF in 2015. It engages in investing and consulting services in social security, enterprise annuities, and pensions. CCBP had CNY509.2 billion (USD75.1 billion) worth of assets under management as of June 30, according to CCB’s interim financial report. In the first half of last year, its net profit tallied CNY119 million (USD17.6 million).

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi