China announced plans on Thursday to channel hundreds of billions of yuan of investment from state-owned insurers into shares as part of the government's latest efforts to support a struggling stock market.

China on Thursday detailed measures to encourage state-owned funds and insurers to buy more shares, aimed at stabilizing the struggling stock market at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to announce tariffs on Chinese imports.

Asian shares are mixed after China rolled out more moves to boost its lagging stock markets. Hong Kong and Shanghai rose but then shed some of their initial gains early Thursday. Officials in Beijing said pension funds and mutual funds would be required to increase purchases of shares,

Starting this year, 30 per cent of the annual insurance premium from new policies will be put into yuan-denominated A shares, regulator Wu Qing said.

BANGKOK (AP) — The Chinese government is trying to encourage people to spend more by ensuring that share prices will rise, ordering pensions and mutual funds to invest more in domestic stocks to help jolt its languid markets out of the doldrums.

State-owned insurers and mutual funds are expected to play a pivotal role in the process of stabilizing the stock market.

Equities rally as authorities set explicit investment targets for mutual funds and state-owned insurance companies