China limits diversified investments by big SOEs

China has told big state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that no more than 10 percent of their investments may be outside their core business, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.
The order from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) is the latest in a wave of central-government directives aimed at slowing a boom in capital spending that policy makers fear will destabilise the world's fourth-largest economy.
Flush with cash, many Chinese firms have diversified beyond their core operations, especially into real estate, in search of higher returns than the 2.25 percent available on one-year bank deposits.