China’s SWF Slashes Funding Request to $100 Billion

(April 1, 2010) – The $300 billion China Investment Corp (CIC) has slashed the amount of new funding it’s seeking from the government to $100 billion.

According to China Business News, the country’s sovereign wealth fund was negotiating with the Ministry of Finance, hoping to get a capital injection of $200 billion, but the proposal was not approved.

In recent news, according to a report by International Financial Services London (IFSL) entitled  ‘Sovereign Wealth Funds 2010’, the CIC is continuing to expand its overseas portfolio, with a reduced percentage of its funds in financial services and a larger proportion of funds allocated to industry, infrastructure and other non-financial services sectors. Last year, the CIC invested $15 billion internationally in assets like commodities, private equity and hedge funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission showed the CIC invested $9.6 billion in US-listed assets, with one-fourth of this money using exchange traded funds for greater exposure to the US.

Additionally, CIC’s Chairman Lou Jiwei said the SWF will manage more of its investments in developed markets in-house.

The CIC was set up in September 2007 and is the world’s fifth-largest SWF.