Exclusive: China CIC sovereign fund to get $50 billion boost

by lexie Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:46 pm

Dec 22, 2011 23:30 EST

Exclusive: China CIC sovereign fund to get $50 billion boost

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's $410 billion sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. is set to receive additional funding of up to $50 billion, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday.

The new funding comes along with an agreement between relevant Chinese government agencies to give CIC new money to manage every year, the sources said.

The agreement would lay out a long-term framework under which CIC would be allocated money to manage from China's foreign exchange reserves, and would also chart the future of its domestic investment arm Central Huijin Investment, sources said.

"The final plan for capital injection will be unveiled shortly and it could be $50 billion," a source close to the matter said.

CIC declined to comment.

The cash injection follows in the wake of plans -- reported by Reuters earlier this month -- to create a new $300 billion vehicle that would be affiliated with China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the part of the central bank in charge of the daily management of China's $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves.

The additional funding would give succor to CIC, which operates independently of the central bank, which said in March that it had fully invested all its cash and would like the government to allocate it more money.

Chinese media have reported since late 2009 that CIC was seeking $100-$200 billion in new funding, but there have been no subsequent reports of progress.

CIC was set up in 2007 with the aim of earning higher returns for a slice of China's $3.2 trillion foreign exchange reserves, the largest in the world.

Source: Reuters US Online Report Business News

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