ExclusiveChina’s sovereign fund sidelines executives amid worries over US scrutiny
China Investment Corporation has reassigned three department heads and delayed its 2024 report amid US pressure on foreign inflows
China’s flagship sovereign wealth fund has moved three of its managing directors to new, subordinate roles, sources told the Post, with the heads of the fund’s fixed income, private equity and public relations departments all taking new non-managerial positions.
No reasons were given for the reshuffle, and the fund did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.
The rapid-fire reassignment of senior staff members raises questions over the status of the fund’s overseas operations, particularly in the US, where CIC could become a target of security screenings despite a recent bilateral trade truce.
It set up a New York representative office 10 years ago, one of only two offices for the fund outside mainland China, with the other in Hong Kong.
CIC, founded in 2007 with US$200 billion in registered capital, faces rising challenges in its American operations as relations between the two countries sour under the second term of US President Donald Trump.
“One area where the US could take action, or where tense US-China relations might affect things, is CIC’s investments in American hedge, private equity and venture capital funds,” said Jean-Marc Blanchard, founding executive director of the Wong MNC Centre, an independent think tank based in the US state of California.
We have seen funds reluctant to accept ‘Chinese’ money, and the US could press for disclosure of CIC investments