SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE, March 6 (Reuters) - Chinese asset manager Bosera Asset Management said it has started sales of a 30-year government bond exchange-traded fund (ETF), the country's second such ETF.

The launch comes at a time of fervent investor interest in bonds against a backdrop of falling yields, which pushes bond prices up, and expectations for further monetary easing to shore up the shaky economy.

Assets under management at the first 30-year bond ETF managed by Pengyang Asset Management have quadrupled since the start of the year. Two other fund managers have also filed applications with regulators for similar products.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The popularity of long-dated bonds show how desperate mainland investors are for safe assets to park their cash as confidence in the economy and stock market plummets. Analysts expect rising demand for bonds to drive longer yields even lower.

CONTEXT

Bond yields have fallen steadily after China's benchmark lending rates were cut sharply last month.

The 30-year government bond yield fell to a record low of 2.44% on Wednesday, according to brokers' quotes from platform Dealing Matrix. The yield has dropped 21 basis points (bps) since the end of January.

At its annual National People's Congress (NPC) that started on Tuesday, China announced a 2024 economic growth target of around 5%, a tight fiscal deficit target of 3% of GDP and plans to keep fiscal policy "pro-active". Expectations are for monetary policy also to be supportive.

Many analysts have described the 5% target as very ambitious without much more stimulus.

QUOTES

Local government bond issuance has slowed, hence investors such as insurance companies are buying sovereign bonds to fulfil their demand for long-dated assets, said Pin Ru Tan, head of Asia rates strategy at HSBC.

"Weaker-than-expected property sales and low price pressures may have also encouraged other investors to extend their positioning from short-dated to long-dated bonds," Tan said.

Although the 30-year bond yield has fallen a lot, it's still attractive compared to other assets, and monetary policy is likely to be further relaxed, said Lv Ruijun, fixed income portfolio manager at Bosera Asset Management.

(Reporting by Li Gu in Shanghai and Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore; Editing by Kim Coghill)