The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), China's currency reserve regulatory body, has set up an investment operation in the US, the Wall Street Journal said in a report released Monday, citing unnamed sources.

The new operation, which has recently been established in New York, is responsible for investment in private equity, real estate and other US assets, according to the report.

SAFE already had one office in the US, which focuses mostly on government debt purchases.

The move came as SAFE, which oversees a total of $3.44 trillion in foreign exchange holdings as of the first quarter of the year, the world's largest reserves, steps up its efforts to diversify away from US government bonds, the sources also said.

SAFE has yet to confirm the report.

Xinhua – Global Times