(Bloomberg) -- Chinese megacap shares fell Friday after two state-backed funds trimmed their holdings in a sign that the government wants to slow down the rally.

People’s Insurance Company (Group) of China Ltd., which had become a poster child of the ramp-up in equities, sank as much as 7.5% in Shanghai, while the SSE 50 Index of the city’s largest stocks fell 1.3%. The gauge had closed Thursday within 2 percentage points of its intraday peak in 2015.

China’s National Council for Social Security Fund -- the country’s national pension fund and PICC’s second-largest shareholder -- said it plans to sell a 2% stake in the insurer, according to an exchange filing late Thursday. The fund, which oversees about 2.2 trillion yuan ($314 billion) in assets, said the sale was due to “regular divesting activities.”

A rally in Chinese stocks has added about $1 trillion to equity values this week -- far outpacing gains in every other market worldwide. Signs of euphoria among the nation’s investing masses are popping up everywhere: turnover has soared, margin debt has risen at the fastest pace since 2015 and online trading platforms have struggled to keep up.

The National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Co. -- a far smaller state-backed semiconductor fund aimed at fostering China’s homegrown chipmakers -- also announced plans Thursday to offload shares in three firms. Textile maker Wuxi Taiji Industry Co., Shenzhen Goodix Technology Co., and Beijing BDStar Navigation Co. fell at least 2.5%.

The role of state-backed funds in China’s market landscape became apparent during the 2015 stock rout, when firms like China Securities Finance Corp. and Central Huijin Investment Ltd. worked to counter big equity losses.

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