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BusinessBanking & Finance

Didi Chuxing, Ant Group backer Temasek remains ‘bullish’ on China as Beijing cracks down on tech sector

  • China remains the largest part of the Singapore sovereign wealth fund’s portfolio
  • Temasek’s net portfolio value hit record US$283 billion in the 2021 financial year

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Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek said it remains “bullish” on investment in China despite a crackdown on technology firms, such as ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, in which it is an investor. Photo: AFP
Chad Bray
Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings – an early backer of Ant Group and ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing – remains “bullish” on investing in China even as Beijing cracks down on the country’s high-flying technology sector.
China accounted for the largest part of the investor’s portfolio in the financial year ended in March, or about 27 per cent of its underlying assets, and executives said it will remain an important destination for investments in the future. Temasek’s net portfolio value hit a record S$381 billion (US$283 billion) in the 2021 financial year.

“[Regulation is] one of many risks in any country that we invest in,” said Mukul Chawla, Temasek’s joint head for telecom, media and technology. “It’s not just in China that we are mindful of regulation and changing regulation. I don’t believe it changes our stance on China in any way. We continue to invest. We continue to consider regulation as it comes forward.”

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Overall, Temasek’s investments in China rose by S$14 billion, even as it rebalanced its portfolio and increased its investment in the Americas in the 2021 financial year, according to Nagi Hamiyeh, the joint head of Temasek’s investment group.

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Temasek had its biggest year for investments – S$49 billion and divestments – S$39 billion, as a number of its portfolio companies went public, including video-sharing platform Kuaishou Technology’s US$6.2 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong in February. Kuaishou was the biggest debut worldwide this year.
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“It’s been a very active year for a number of our companies accessing the public markets. It speaks to the fact it’s been an attractive opportunity for a number of our companies as the trends that we leaned into have accelerated during the pandemic and presented an interesting opportunity for these companies to strengthen their balance sheets,” Chawla said.

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