China Investment Corp has urged Washington to relax scrutiny of mainland government entities investing in the United States to speed up deals that will help create jobs for Americans.
Lou Jiwei, the chairman of the mainland's sovereign fund with assets of close to US$300 billion, told the Asian Financial Forum that the fund recently struck a deal to buy a minority stake in a US electricity firm.
The deal was subject to approval by four US government departments. While CIC has passed the most important hurdle, it still has to go through the antitrust body.
As part of the examination, CIC has to disclose all of its investment in the power sector, including the companies involved, Lou said.
'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,' he said.
Lou did not name the US firm, but in November last year, CIC agreed to buy a 15 per cent stake in US power firm AES Corp for US$1.58 billion, and a 35 per cent stake in its wind power subsidiary for US$571 million.
Mainland and US firms have faced difficulty in executing major acquisition deals in each other's markets, especially in industries considered to have strategic value.