BEIJING, Jan 29 (Reuters) - China plans to merge China Cinda Asset Management, Orient Asset Management and Great Wall Asset Management into China Investment Corp (CIC), state-run Xinhua Finance News reported on Sunday citing unidentified industry insiders.

The merger is part of a plan to reform financial institutions, Bloomberg News cited Xinhua as saying.

The Ministry of Finance is the largest shareholder of China Cinda, Orient and Great Wall, state-owned China Fund News reported.

The three asset managers have dozens of branches across provinces and assets totalling billions of yuan.

The government established CIC in 2007 to diversify foreign exchange holdings and seek maximum returns, its website showed. It has registered capital of $200 billion. (Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Christopher Cushing)