BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country's sovereign wealth fund, has begun talks on setting up its first international office in London, China Daily reported Thursday.

    The fund, which has 200-billion-U.S. dollar at its disposal, has been looking for a base outside China for some time, and has been recently very active in the U.K. capital, the newspaper said.

    CIC was recently part of a consortium which carried out the 1.3-billion-U.S. dollar bail-out of Canary Wharf, the London office complex.

    Michael Charlton, chief executive of Think London, the capital's inward investment agency, said he was in talks with CIC about setting up an international operation in London and Think London was not involved in the Canary Wharf negotiations.

    CIC is considering New York and Hong Kong as possible alternatives to London as an overseas base, according to the newspaper.