The Chinese M&A fund (Binggoujijin) is an emerging restructuring method for oversupplied Chinese SOEs. Chinese M&A funds have been developing rapidly since the mid-2000s. Both the number of newly established funds and the size of total fund collection nearly doubled compared with those of the previous year. Recently, the Chinese government has adopted several policies to stimulate M&A funds in inducing private capital and expediting the restructuring of SOEs, particularly the listed ones. These policies also include relaxing the limitations on investment areas and shares.

The Chinese M&A fund can play the following roles in the reform process. First, the M&A fund can induce the market-oriented restructuring of SOEs because it has a transition effect on investors as they shift from the public to the private sector. Second, the financial burden on the Chinese government is eased because M&A funds are financed by private capital. Accordingly, private enterprises join the restructuring process led by the government. Third, the management structure of SOEs is improved because M&A funds require the takeover of SOE shares by private ownership. Finally, as a platform that induces not only private capital in China but also globally, the M&A fund can lower the possibility of a Chinese economic crisis that may result from excessive oversupply.

If private financing through the M&A fund takes on a prominent role in Chinese industrial and SOE restructuring, then this complicated process can be delivered smoothly and help achieve the policy goal of supply-side reform. Moreover, the risk of an economic crisis from the insolvent obligations of the banking sector, or a sovereign debt crisis, can be mitigated.