China’s sovereign-wealth fund has teamed up with a French public sector financial institution to jointly tap overseas opportunities, especially in real estate and infrastructure.
CIC Capital, the direct investment arm of US$810 billion China Investment Corp, signed an agreement with Caisse des Dépôts International Capital, a subsidiary of State-owned Caisse des Dépôts Group, to set up a fund for cooperation in third-party markets, according to the list of achievements following the wrap-up of the fourth China-France High-level Economic and Financial Dialogue November 15.
The statement said the joint fund will invest in projects that could create opportunities for Chinese and French investors in markets outside the mainland and France.
The statement also said the two companies will push forward investment in the greater-Paris region, especially in the real estate and infrastructure sectors.
Speaking at a March event in Paris, Ding Xuedong, chairman of China Investment Corp, said the company has total investments of US$8.3 billion in France, representing only 4.1 per cent of CIC’s investment portfolio. He said CIC is expecting greater investment in high-tech, high-end manufacturing, healthcare, food and agricultural industries. CIC also expects to team up with French investors to invest in African markets, many of which have close ties with France.
CIC said in this year’s annual report that it plans to “dynamically” adjust its investment mix between public equity, direct investments and alternative investments, and strengthen its ability to make direct investments.
In the past year CIC has beefed up its real estate and infrastructure portfolio, including a September investment in Australian-listed rail and port operator Asciano Limited, and this month bought into a 50-year lease for the Port of Melbourne as part of a consortium of investors.
CIC is also in talks over a joint offer for Singapore-based Global Logistic Properties, owner of global industrial properties, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.
