China Investment Corporation
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| China Investment Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Type | Sovereign wealth fund |
| Founded | Beijing, 2007 |
| Headquarters | Beijing, People's Republic of China |
| Key people | Lou Jiwei |
| Industry | Investment service |
| Total equity | US$ 200 billion |
The China Investment Corporation (CIC) is responsible for managing part of the People's Republic of China's foreign exchange reserves with $200 billion United States dollars of assets under management, which makes it the fourth largest Sovereign Wealth Fund.[1][2] This sovereign wealth fund officially began operations on Saturday, September 29, 2007. It bought a US $3 billion stake of Blackstone Group in June[3] and a 9.9% stake of Morgan Stanley worth US$ 5 billion on December 19, 2007.[4][5][6]
Contents |
[edit] History
The People's Republic of China has US $1.7 trillion in currency reserves. The China Investment Corporation was established with the intent of utilizing these reserves for the benefit of the state, modeled according to Singapore's Temasek Holdings. The state-owned Central Huijin Investment Corporation was merged into the new company as a wholly-owned subsidiary company.[5]
The Corporation aims to invest in around fifty large-sized enterprises across the world. Special treasury bonds were issued to create the capital that the CIC needed. 1,550.35 billion yuan ($207.91 billion) was issued in this bond sale. The bond process was completed in December 2007.[7] According to Lou Jiwei, the CIC needs to make a profit of 300 million Yuan every day just to pay the interest on the bonds and operation costs. The CIC paid its first interest on the bonds in February 2008 where it paid 12.9 billion yuan.[8]
[edit] Administration
The management and board of the China Investment Corporation ultimately reports to the State Council of the People's Republic of China.[citation needed]
[edit] Executive
- Chairman of the Board of Directors - Lou Jiwei
- General Manager - Gao Xiqing
- Chairman of the Board of Supervisors - Hu Huaibang
- Deputy General Manager - Zhang Hongli
- Deputy General Manager - Yang Qingwei
- Deputy General Manager - Xie Ping
- Deputy General Manager - Wang Jianxi
[edit] Board of Directors
- Non executive director - Zhang Xiaoqiang
- Non executive director - Li Yong
- Non executive director - Fu Ziying
- Non executive director - Liu Shiyu
- Non executive director - Hu Xiaolian
- Independent director - Liu Zhongli
- Independent director - Wang Chunzheng
- Non executive Director (employee representative) - pending
[edit] Profile
Gao Xiqing is now vice chairman of the National Council for the Social Security Fund. Zhang Hongli and Li Yong are vice ministers of finance. Zhang Xiaoqiang and Wang Chunzheng are vice ministers of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the nation's top economic planner. Fu Ziying is assistant to the Minister of Commerce. Liu Shiyu is a central bank vice governor, Hu Xiaolian head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and Liu Zhongli was former finance minister.
Yang Qingwei is currently department head of fixed assets investment with the NDRC. Xie Ping is now the general manager of the Central Huijin Investment Corporation and Wang Jianxi a vice board chairman of the Central Huijin.
Hu Huaibang, Commissioner of Discipline Inspection with the China Banking Regulatory Commission, took the post as chief supervisor.
Lou Jiwei worked his way up, starting in the People's Liberation Army Navy and becoming the deputy minister of finance.
Xie Ping, "The Iron Fist" reorganized much of the Chinese banking system, and now firmly controls it.
Wang Jianxi holds a doctorate in accounting and lived in the United Kingdom and the United States and adopted the English first name "Jesse".
Previously, the Lou, Xie & Wang used $60 billion in currency reserves to clear all the bad loans from the books of the three largest state banks, allowing for stock market flotations in Hong Kong. These banks have rejoined the ranks of the world's leading financial institutions.
[edit] Investment strategies
China has invested two-thirds[citation needed] of its reserves in US dollars, mostly US treasury bonds and agency bonds. The US dollar's devaluation on world currency markets has provided poor returns, prompting the Chinese to create the CIC to manage China's investment in equities.
Credit Suisse predicted CIC would only take a 5-10% stake in each company, remaining a passive investor to avoid political hassles in overseas markets.[9] CIC bought a $3 billion stake in Blackstone, one of the largest US private equity firms. CIC has refrained from influencing Blackstone's investment strategy. The company will mainly pursue combined investments in overseas financial markets.
CIC is thought to engage in building influence for the government by buying up significant stakes in companies that have influence in western governments including airline companies as also target firms that have heavily invested in China. The investments would help the government to influence the policies of multinational companies and to protect China's interests in international spheres.[verification needed]
Market watchdogs want to know what would happen if China, Russia and Arab countries were to systematically acquire significant holdings in sensitive industries such as telecommunications, energy and defense. It could prove difficult to draw the line between sound government policies and neo-protectionism.
The new fund has been placed under the authority of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Lou has been assigned the rank of a minister. During daily operations, he will answer to a host of other agencies, including the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, a successor to the former influential State Planning Commission. Lou said CIC will operate on the principle of "commercial operation", and will abide by local laws of countries where it invests.
The state media had earlier speculated that the company will invest $67bn to buy the assets of Central Huijin, the investment arm of the central bank which holds shares in most state-run banks. It was later reported that Huijin was acquired by CIC from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange for $200 billion.[10]
China's leadership has debated the right strategy for the government investment fund. Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan has suggested that China should invest in natural resources to increase its strategic reserves. Other high-ranking party officials would rather see the country acquire shares in high-tech companies to help China more rapidly close the gap with leading industrialized nations.
Three years ago, dealers working for China Aviation Oil in Singapore, China's sole supplier of aviation fuel, suffered losses of $500 million from miscalculations and rising oil prices. Last year, news leaked out that the former head of the Communist Party in Shanghai and his subordinates had illegally siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars from the state pension fund and channeled the money into projects run by corporate cronies.
The Chinese Internet community regularly vents its anger over government losses of the people's money. Lou's losses from the Blackstone deal have angered many. There is widespread skepticism among Chinese party leaders and the public over the extent to which the country should get involved in global equities. Western investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will provide expert knowledge to China's state-sponsored venture capitalists.[verification needed]
[edit] Holdings
- Blackstone Group, May 22, 2007, $3 billion, 9.4% stake.[11][3][5][6]
- Morgan Stanley, December 19, 2007, $5 billion, 9.9% stake[4][5][6]
- VISA, March 19, 2008, $100 million, > 0.1%[12][13]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Davis, Bob. "Wanted: SWFs' Money Sans Politics", Wall Street Journal, 2007-12-20. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ China Investment Corporation unveils investment plan. United States-Chinese Embassy (PRC) (2007-11-07). Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ a b Carew, Rick. "China Seeks External Help for Wealth Fund", Wall Street Journal, 2007-12-14. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ a b Carew, Rick. "Great Wall Street of China", Wall Street Journal, 2007-12-20. Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
- ^ a b c d China Business: "China's trillion-dollar kitty is ready", Asia Times, October 2, 2007.
- ^ a b c Straszheim, Donald. "China Buys Wall Street", Forbes.com, December 27, 2007.
- ^ The Creation of the China Investment Corporation. - Amadan International. - (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document)
- ^ Liming, Li. "Day of Reckoning for China's Sovereign Fund", Economic Observer, 2008-1-31.
- ^ Kwok, Vivian Wai-yin. "China Investment Corp. Flashes its Yuan", Forbes.com, 2007-05-10. Retrieved on 2009-03-28.
- ^ Anderlini, Jamil., China investment arm emerges from shadows, Financial Times, 5 January 2008.
- ^ Prospectus: The Blackstone Group, Morgan Stanley & Citi lead underwriters, June 21, 2007
- ^ "China Life, CIC bought into Visa IPO", China Economic Review, March 28, 2008
- ^ "China wealth fund buys into Visa's IPO", Reuters, March 25, 2008
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