China Investment Corporation, the country’s main sovereign wealth fund, plans to invest in the dilapidated infrastructure of developed countries, starting with the UK, according to Lou Jiwei, the fund’s chairman.
The $410bn Chinese fund “is keen to team up with fund managers or participate through a public-private partnership in the UK infrastructure sector as an equity investor”, Mr Lou writes in today’s Financial Times. He recently returned from a visit to Britain, where he discussed details of potential Chinese investment in infrastructure.
Meanwhile, London is looking to UK pension funds and sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia to help finance upgrades of roads, railways, ports and social housing.