China’s Export-Import bank is continuing a push to expand its scope beyond infrastructure by releasing $4bn of private equity capital. The state-controlled overseas investor will use this to its competitiveness with global funds for diversified assets, reports the FT.
ExIm bank has already begun the path to diversification in other regions. In Europe the bank is managing $1bn to invest in agriculture and tourism, whilst in Southeast Asia an affiliated asset management group has a $3bn fund in the pipeline focusing on telecoms and travel businesses.
Beijing has been wary of overseas investment coming from the private sector, and has recently been imposing limits to prevent capital flight. The management of foreign assets has since shifted to the government, with state investors and sovereign wealth funds such as China Investment Corp. leading the management of foreign assets.