Canada's biggest pension fund has joined a group of investors that includes JP Morgan and UBS in taking a 17% stake in Postal Savings Bank of China ahead of a planned initial public offering of the Chinese lender. Financial News spoke to the Asia president of the $272.9 billion Canada Pension Plan Investment Board about the deal and its ambitions in the world’s second-largest economy.

Postal Savings Bank of China, the country's biggest unlisted bank and the sixth-largest lender in China by assets, said on December 9 it has raised $7 billion in pre-IPO financing by selling a nearly 17% stake in common equity for 45.1 billion yuan to a group of 10 strategic investors, including UBS and JP Morgan.