China Investment Corporate Ltd. (CIC), the country's
long-awaited state forex investment company set up to make better
use of its huge foreign exchange reserves, was inaugurated on
Saturday.
The CIC, with a registered capital of US$200 billion, is a
solely state-owned company, according to the company sources.
Lou Jiwei, current deputy secretary-general of the State
Council, was appointed as the CIC's board chairman. Other board
members include two executive directors Gao Xiqing and Zhang
Hongli, five non-executive directors, Zhang Xiaoqiang, Li Yong, Fu
Ziying, Liu Shiyu and Hu Xiaolian, one independent director Liu
Zhongli and one director to be elected from the company's
employees.
Gao Xiqing is now vice chairman of the National Council for
Social Security Fund. Zhang Hongli and Li Yong are vice finance
ministers. Zhang Xiaoqiang is vice minister of the National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Fu Ziying assistant
minister of commerce, Liu Shiyu central bank vice governor, Hu
Xiaolian head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange
(SAFE) and Liu Zhongli former finance minister.
Gao Xiqing was also designated as the company's general manager,
and Zhang Hongli, Yang Qingwei, Xie Ping and Wang Jianxi were
appointed as deputy general managers.
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.
The company, to be operated in a completely commercial way
despite its governmental backup, will mainly pursue combined
investment in overseas financial markets.
"It will deal with its forex investment business independently
by persisting in the principle of separating government functions
from company management," the sources said.
The company will try to maximize the proceeds via long-term
investments within a range of acceptable risks, said the
sources.
At the end of August, China's Ministry of Finance announced it
would use forex purchased with returns from a 600 billion-yuan
(US$67.79 billion) special treasury bond sale to finance the
CIC.
China's forex reserve had reached US$1.33 trillion by the end of
June.
(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2007)
