China’s Wealth Fund to Consider Investing in Europe (Update2)
source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... aJnHjA603g
By Eugene Tang
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- China’s $200 billion sovereign fund will consider investing in Europe in 2009, after avoiding the continent last year because of trade barriers, said China Investment Corp.’s Chairman Lou Jiwei.
“Europe has started to welcome investments” without attaching conditions, Lou said today at the Boao Forum in southern China’s Hainan province. “During the world financial crisis, sovereign wealth funds have become more appealing” and less frightening, he said. Beijing-based CIC, whose investments have included stakes in Blackstone Group LP and Morgan Stanley, didn’t invest “a single cent” in European companies or assets last year, because the continent had put up barriers to limit the activities of sovereign wealth funds, he said.
The agency was founded to provide better returns for China’s foreign-currency reserves, the world’s largest at $1.95 trillion. The fund last year earned $10 billion from its investments, representing a 5 percent return, Radio Television Hong Kong reported on Feb. 24, citing a source it didn’t identify.
“There was rising protectionism against China last year, and the European Union had the worst” limits, Lou said today. “They allowed us to invest in no more than 10 percent of a company’s stakes and required us to give up our voting power” in management, he said.
“We couldn’t accept that because investments should be based on market practices,” he said. “With the removal of these conditions, we will seriously consider making decisive and prudent investments overseas this year, including in Europe.”
He declined to specify the European industries or companies he’s looking at investing in.
Last Updated: April 18, 2009 06:30 EDT
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时间不是很宽松，本篇文章只点出需要在阅读时注意的地方。
本篇报导取自彭博社对2009年亚洲博鳌论坛年会（4月17至19日举办）的采访，在中投当家人楼继伟的讲话中涉及到了部分问题，其中针对欧洲部分的投资表态十分引人注意。结合近期中外政治经济主体力量的对比，可发现中投的态度显得比较强硬。在全文倒数第2段的回应中，楼的表态是：
之前欧洲对华的主权投资资金做出了较大的限制，但目前在经济不景气的条件下，中方将赴欧美等国进行战略投资和采购。在这个大背景下，楼继伟的回应显得有些幸灾乐祸（谁让你去年不让我投资，看今年你只好破罐破卖了吧）——现在咱们可以坐下来谈条件了。我方不可能接受（以上条件），因为投资必须是个市场化的行为。只有取消这些条件，我方才会认真的考虑今年对海外投资的决策问题并进行审慎的投资行动，当然，欧洲也将纳入我们的考虑范围。
中方想表达的意思：
1. 不可能接受（此句前置，表示重要性和不可置疑性）
2. 过去的限制条件要取消（with the removal of...前置亦表示了“取消”的不容置疑性）
3. 限制取消并不保证中方投资，欧洲只是中方可能投资的一个选择（seriously, including等明白的告诉了对方这一点），意思是中方还有更多的谈判筹码