China sovereign wealth fund to receive more capital: report
TOKYO -- Sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp is expected to receive
another injection of capital from the country's foreign-exchange reserves in
the coming months, according to a report citing unnamed government officials
and people familiar with the fund.
While a final decision has yet to be made, the CIC would likely receive a
similar amount to the initial $200 billion it was given at its founding two
years ago, the Financial Times reported on its Web site Sunday.
Chinese media have also reported the government is considering a new capital
injection of that amount for the fund, the report said.
The CIC, established in September 2007 with funding from China's large
foreign-exchange coffers, garnered global attention with high-profile losses
from early investments in Morgan Stanley and Blackstone Group.
But the CIC stayed mostly in cash last year before switching into highly liquid
U.S dollar assets as the greenback bounced back in November 2008 and again in
March this year, the report said.
As the global economy began to recover earlier this year, the fund was quick to
make investments in commodities-related assets that benefit from a rebound in
Chinese growth, the report said.
Beijing has repeatedly expressed its intention to gradually diversify away from
low-yielding U.S. government securities, which now make up the bulk of its
foreign reserves.
Another factor influencing the decision to give CIC more money is the
expectation that China's largest banks will raise roughly $50 billion in new
capital over the next couple of years to meet tighter regulatory requirements,
the report said.
Since CIC holds controlling stakes in most of China's largest banks, the fund
must provide much of this capital to avoid seeing its holdings diluted, it said.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Dec. 21, 2009, 12:05 a.m. EST
