OREANDA-NEWS. October 07, 2014. An energy investment fund jointly set up by the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC), Tencent Holdings Limited and asset management firm Munsun has entered an agreement to invest 10 billion yuan (USD 1.6 billion) in Sinopec Chemical Commercial Holding Company (SCCHC), giving the fund a 2.8% stake in the company during its recent round of capital raising and marking a significant development in China's mixed ownership economy.

In February, the Sinopec Group announced a major business shakeup in its oil products sector, deciding to second its sales operations and assets to SCCHC and seek capital investment from the social and private sectors.

On June 30, the Sinopec Group announced its fund raising measures and spoke about its efforts to strengthen SCCHC's vigor by courting strategic partners for its non-oil businesses.

According to the Beijing-based Economic Observer, SCCHC's non-oil businesses include convenience stores, car services, online to office e-commerce and advertising.

Sinopec Group chairperson Fu Chengyu said during a recent meeting that the group's non-oil business has a lot of potential for growth, and that the group is determined to develop itself into a comprehensive and trustworthy service provider.

After the capital increase, the paper said, PICC, Tencent and Munsun will integrate their resources to further explore the gas card business and offer customers better refueling services.

The Sinopec Group has over 30,000 gas stations and more than 2,300 convenience stores across China, with its gas card holders surpassing 80 million.

In an effort to boost its non-oil businesses, Sinopec Group has already started crossover cooperation with RT-MART International, SF Express and Yihaodian's online grocery business, which is widely viewed as the group's endeavor to create new horizons for its non-oil operations.

PICC has over 40 millon car insurance customers and holds metadata on them.

In terms of social media, Tencent has a considerable number of active users, with its monthly count of active accounts touching 829 million and the monthly number of its WeChat users hitting 438 million.