Jeffrey Zeng, the son of former vice-premier Zeng Peiyan, is helping CITIC Capital raise a US$150 million venture capital fund that focuses on domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). CITIC Capital is an investment unit of China's sovereign wealth fund.
Zeng, who studied in Japan and the United States, is well known in the mainland's financial community for his successful investments over the past decade. They include bets on US-listed Dangdang.com, the mainland's top online book retailer.
The 44-year-old princeling is reticent about his family background and rarely talks about his family, even with close friends.
His father retired as vice-premier in 2008. Zeng Snr, 74, currently heads a high-level government think tank called the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges.
'Jeffrey is very low key ... he is trying to build his own reputation in the investment circle, rather than to be remembered as someone's son,' said a Hong Kong-based finance executive who is close to him.
According to a company statement, CITIC Capital Venture Partners (CCVP) secured US$60 million last week after completing its first round of fund-raising. It aims to raise US$150 million in total.
CCVP will focus on investments in Chinese SMEs in three sectors - consumer, clean technology, and information technology, which are seen as having high growth potential in China.