FINANCIAL authorities in Shanghai's Putuo District have set up a 2 billion yuan (US$307 million) fund of funds to help boost private equity investment and mergers and acquisitions in the technology sector, a local official said yesterday.

"The first phase of investment will be 500 million yuan this year," Zhou Qianying, director of the financial services office of Putuo, told a media briefing.

The government-backed fund will invest in Putuo-registered PE and M&A funds that back startup businesses in high-tech sectors, such as mobile Internet, intelligent security and biomedicine.

Traditionally an industrial area, Putuo has in recent years sought to transform itself as a base for financial and consultancy companies involved in mergers and acquisitions.

In 2014, the local government established the Shanghai Putuo M&A Financial Agglomeration Area, which is now home to more than 1,100 M&A-related businesses, including fund companies and banks.

Last year, the district handled 171.1 billion yuan worth of M&A transactions, an increase of 45 percent from 2014. Recent deals include the purchase of Portuguese insurer Caixa Seguros by Fosun International Ltd.