Beijing –China's national pension fund, the National Social Security Fund, is recruiting overseas institutions to manage its offshore investments, it said in a statement on its website on Wednesday. 

Eligible applicants should have stable financial and credit records, more than six year of asset management experience, and no less than US$5 billion worth of assets under its management, the statement said. 

The selected managers are expected to cover four areas: multi-asset allocation, emerging market (non-China) local currency bonds, global resources equities as well as global real estate equities, according to the statement. 

The National Social Security Fund was launched in August 2000 with a mandate to preserve and increase the value of the pension fund , as the country is facing huge challenges from a rapidly aging population. 

The fund's assets have increased nearly tenfold over the past 10 years and are expected to reach one trillion yuan by year end, and 1.5 trillion yuan by 2015.