China, Belgium to raise 3 bln yuan joint fund -sources

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI, Jan 7 (Reuters) - China and Belgium plan to raise about 3 billion yuan ($439 million) for their second joint private equity fund with an investment focus on growth-stage Chinese firm, sources briefed on the plan said on Wednesday.

The planned fund, to be called China-Belgium Direct Equity Investment Fund II, follows a similar fund launched in 2005 that is now fully invested, the sources said.

In 2005, Haitong Securities (600837.SS), one of China's largest brokerages, and Fortis (FOR.BR) (FOR.AS) won special permission from Beijing to set up an asset management joint venture in Shanghai to manage the 1 billion yuan China-Belgium Direct Equity Investment Fund I.

The second fund will be run by Haitong-Fortis Private Equity Fund Management Co Ltd, said the sources who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

A Shanghai-based official of Haitong-Fortis confirmed the firm is in the process of fund-raising for the second yuan-denominated China-Belgium fund but declined to comment further. ($1=6.832 Yuan) (Reporting by George Chen in HONG KONG and Samuel Shen in SHANGHAI; Editing by Lincoln Feast)