CIC asks US to ease scrutiny

China Investment Corp, the country’s US$300 billion sovereign wealth fund, has asked the US to ease the scrutiny of Chinese government organs investing there, the South China Morning Post reported. CIC chairman Lou Jiwei said the fund has recently finalized a deal to buy a minority stake in an American electricity firm and that the deal is subject to approval by four different US departments. "We wonder if the US should relax this a bit, everyone can see investment opportunities in the infrastructure sector there and the benefits of job creation, and there is a lack of funds…we just want to be treated the same as everyone else," Lou said. In late 2009 CIC agreed to buy a 15% stake in US power firm AES Corp for US$1.85 billion and a 35% stake in its wind power unit for US$571 million. Lou also said that CIC will also focus on investing in emerging markets, particularly in Asia.