Economy

Greek crisis not to affect China's overseas investment

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-27 17:26
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PARIS - The eurozone debt crisis will not seriously affect China's overseas investment, the general manager of China Investment Corporation (CIC) said on Wednesday.

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"The CIC will keep its investment level in Europe, no more, no less," Gao Xiqing said at the 2010 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Forum in Paris.

The CIC is very concerned about the short-term market fluctuations amid a threatened eurozone stability, he said.

However, what is more important for the CIC is the long-term trends of the market, Gao said.

"Short-term fluctuations won't bring serious effect on us," Gao said.

Gao added that, in the long run, the CIC will keep a close eye on the EU policies, currency reforms and issues of financial regulation.

Gao also said the CIC is still facing many challenges in Europe, as many European national institutions treat the Chinese sovereign wealth fund unfairly due to ideological differences.

"As a financial investor, the CIC doesn't have any specific political objectives. Under our policy, we will not allow any investments to exceed a very small percentage," said Gao.

But the Chinese sovereign wealth fund still encounters many obstacles while trying to invest abroad, which, Gao believed, stem from the ignorance of some foreign governments and supervisory institutions.

"During the forum, a European trade union chairman asked me what my greatest fear was, and my answer was ignorance," he said.

"If they carefully read the information we released, or if they can remove their tinted glasses, they will know they shouldn't be 'fearful' of us," said Gao.

"The CIC invests in all kinds of products, in all fields and in geographic regions around the world. But there are three industries in which we will not invest -- weapons of mass destruction, the gambling industry and tobacco industry," he said.

"These are industries (whose very existence) people don't want to see, so we won't invest in them no matter how profitable they are," Gao said.

Government officials, experts and scholars from more than 40 countries and regions attended the three-day 2010 OECD Forum and Ministerial Meeting which opened Wednesday. The forum and the meeting mainly focus on innovation and green growth.