BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Vice Minister of
Finance Li Yong disclosed plans for the China Investment Corporation (CIC)
Wednesday, dispelling rumors that China would try to buy out European and
American companies in large numbers.
Li said one third of CIC's capital would be used to
purchase Central Huijin, which now controls China's major state-owned commercial
banks; another third to replenish the capital of the Agricultural Bank of China
and China Development Bank; and the remaining third to invest in global
financial markets.
Li told the International Finance Forum in Beijing
Wednesday that the CIC's investment in world financial markets would be realized
gradually and in a cautious way.
The CIC would not buy into overseas airlines,
telecommunications or oil companies.
"The CIC will make things more transparent, and learn
best practices from other sovereign wealth funds," said Li.
The CIC was launched in September to mitigate the
risks in China's huge foreign exchange reserve.
It has 200 billion U.S. dollars in registered capital
allocated from China's foreign exchange reserve. The Ministry of Finance issued
1.55 trillion yuan (208 billion U.S. dollars) worth of special treasury bonds to
buy the forex reserve and inject the fund into the CIC.
By the end of September, China's forex reserve
exceeded 1.43 trillion U.S. dollars, the highest in the world, up 45.1 percent
year-on-year, according to the People's Bank of China.
In May, the new company, still in preparation, made
its first investment in non-voting shares, valued at 3 billion U.S. dollars, in
the U.S. private equity firm, the Blackstone Group.
A previous report said that a special department on
private equity investment had been set up within the CIC which would also focus
on equity investments and fixed-return investments.