CIC chief warns of price bubbles, keen on commodities

The chairman of China Investment Corp (CIC), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, warned Wednesday that a bubble has formed in global asset prices, the Financial Times reported. Lou Jiwei told a conference that CIC’s strategy is to focus on commodity-related and real estate assets in order to hedge against inflation and currency depreciation. “Our returns at the moment are not bad,” said Lou. “But I dare not say they will be good by the end of the year.” Lou’s comments came shortly after CIC sealed two commodities deals. The fund will invest up to US$700 million in Iron Mining International, a Hong Kong-registered company that owns a mine in Mongolia. Iron Mining could be valued at about US$5 billion should it go ahead with plans to list in Hong Kong next year. CIC has also agreed to invest US$500 million to fund the expansion of SouthGobi Energy Resouces, a Mongolia-focused subsidiary of Canadian mining firm Ivanhoe.