China Construction Bank Corp<601939><0939>, the world's second-largest bank by market value, on Thursday said its wholly-owned investment banking unit, CCB International (Holdings) Ltd, has launched its first RMB-denominated private-equity fund focused on China's healthcare sector.

CCB said in a statement posted on its website that the fund has already raised RMB 2.6 billion.

The fund will invest in five areas. The five areas are the manufacture of pharmaceutical products, the provision of medical devices, medical institutions, medical services provisions, and healthcare management, according to the statement.

The PE fund is part of CCB's effort to broaden the lender's revenue streams as net interest margins have declined and the government has tightened credit control.

CCB posted a net profit of RMB 55.84 billion for the first half this year, a decline of 4.9% year on year due to a drop in net interest income caused by narrowing net interest margins.