China Moves over the Border from Canada to New York after mining and energy investments fail.
After a string of bad investments, China Investment Corp. (CIC) has shut down its Toronto office and is opening a new one in New York, part of a quiet retreat from Canadian natural resources by China’s state-controlled entities.
The decision ends a five-year presence by China’s sovereign wealth fund in the city, picked for its first and only overseas office to monitor investments in Canada’s mining and oil and gas sectors, a top Chinese priority when they were made.
But with commodity prices tanking, partly because of slowing growth in China, and CIC’s Canadian buying spree long over, it is opening a new base in New York in the new year as part of a change in investment strategy, a source confirmed.
In the U.S., CIC wants to take advantage of the high American currency and contribute to the launch of a new subsidiary, CIC Capital Corp., that will invest in overseas infrastructure projects. It is also looking to team up with other firms as co-investors.
CIC was founded in 2007 by the Chinese government to help the country earn a higher return on its pool of foreign exchange reserves, worth US$3.44 trillion at the end of November. CIC manages US$747 billion.
