China - 中国国际贸易促进委员会
China - 中国国际贸易促进委员会
China - 中国国际贸易促进委员会
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Africa<br />
INVESTMENT<br />
Sino-African fund set to swell in 5 years<br />
The second phase of raising capital will be concluded<br />
at the end of 2011. The <strong>China</strong>-Africa Development (CAD)<br />
fund, the country’s biggest equity fund targeting African<br />
investments, is set to expand to $5 billion in the coming five<br />
years, said Chi Jianxin, president of the fund.<br />
“We expect to finish raising the fund’s second phase of<br />
$2 billion by the end of this year and will kick off the third<br />
phase afterwards,” Chi said in an exclusive interview with<br />
<strong>China</strong> Daily.<br />
Based on current operations, the size of the fund may<br />
eventually exceed $5 billion, even though several conditions,<br />
such as an efficient exit channel, are required, he said.<br />
The CAD fund was set up in 2007 as <strong>China</strong>'s major investment<br />
vehicle in Africa, after President Hu Jintao pledged<br />
to establish it at the Beijing Summit on <strong>China</strong>-Africa Cooperation<br />
in 2006.<br />
An initial sum of $1 billion was provided by <strong>China</strong> Development<br />
Bank (CDB), and the fund was planned to expand<br />
to $5 billion finally, although no specific timetable had been<br />
drawn up.<br />
CDB will also help in the second phase fundraising,<br />
said Chi, who was the director of CDB’s Investment Banking<br />
Department before his appointment as president of the fund<br />
upon its foundation.<br />
“We expect more capital from other institutions will<br />
join in during the third round of capital raising,” he said.<br />
So far, the fund has decided to invest $1.3 billion, including<br />
$600 million that has already been invested, in more<br />
than 40 projects covering more than 20 countries on the African<br />
continent.<br />
“We’re very cautious on our investments when making<br />
decisions,” Chi said. The fund's investment focuses mainly<br />
on the processing industry, including construction materials,<br />
automobiles, and household electrical appliances, in addition<br />
to agriculture, mining, and infrastructure areas.<br />
All the projects will facilitate more than $5 billion additional<br />
capital investment to the continent, and will provide<br />
more than 100,000 jobs, Chi said.<br />
The fund, for instance, is in talks with Chery Automobile<br />
Co to invest in an automotive assembly plant project in<br />
Africa.<br />
Buoyed by Chinese investors’ feverish enthusiasm in<br />
Africa, <strong>China</strong>’s investment in Africa surpassed $1 billion<br />
in 2010 from mere tens of millions of US dollars in 2000.<br />
Meanwhile, bilateral trade in 2010 rose to $124 billion, more<br />
than 11 times higher than in 2000, according to Xinhua<br />
News Agency reports.<br />
The central government is urging that equal importance<br />
be given to attracting foreign investment and encouraging<br />
domestic investors to go abroad during the 12th Five-Year<br />
Plan period (2011-2015), the first time the country has emphasized<br />
overseas investment and will spur even more domestic<br />
investment to go abroad, analysts said.<br />
“We plan to invest more in ‘mega projects’ within the<br />
next five years, such as transportation and harbor construction,”<br />
Chi said. “As a financial investor, we're also actively<br />
seeking partnerships with domestic strategic investors for big<br />
projects.”<br />
In addition, Chi said that the fund has started adopting<br />
a mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) strategy to curtail the<br />
investment period.<br />
“We will seek some M&A opportunities in the future<br />
to offset the longer cycle of new projects starting from zero,”<br />
Chi said.<br />
So far, the fund has set up offices in South Africa, the<br />
continent’s biggest economy, Ethiopia, which has attracted a<br />
number of projects, and Zambia. The fund is also planning to<br />
set up additional offices in countries in western and northern<br />
Africa. (<strong>China</strong> Daily)<br />
<strong>China</strong>-SADC investment forum<br />
held in South Africa<br />
<strong>China</strong>, South Africa’s leading trade partner which has<br />
been in the past focusing its investment interests in the country’s<br />
mining and manufacturing sectors will soon “diversify”<br />
to other economic sectors and industries promoting job creation<br />
in South Africa, the Chinese investment body revealed<br />
on May 19.<br />
“South Africa is increasingly becoming <strong>China</strong>’s investment<br />
focus and <strong>China</strong> wants to diversify its investments in<br />
South Africa to other sectors of the economy such as information<br />
technology, biotechnology, human resources and<br />
other industry services,” <strong>China</strong> Industrial Overseas Development<br />
and Planning (CIODP) Vice President and Secretary<br />
General Fan Chunyong said at the <strong>China</strong> and SADC Investment<br />
Conference held at Sinosteel Plaza in Johannesburg.<br />
“These investments (will) help to create more job opportunities<br />
and improve work skills. Investment towards improving<br />
infrastructure will also promote (and) enable economic<br />
development in SADC,” Chunyong told the conference attended<br />
by South Africa senior government officials.<br />
The SADC is acronym for the Southern African Development<br />
Community, a regional body that comprises countries<br />
in Southern Africa only.<br />
The conference attended by several Chinese business<br />
leaders and investors was organized by the <strong>China</strong> Industrial<br />
Overseas Development and Planning Association, the South<br />
African Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the<br />
SADC secretary and the AfrAsia Bank. It aims to promote<br />
more trade and investments opportunities between <strong>China</strong><br />
and the SADC, taking advantage of South Africa’s fast<br />
growing economy and membership to international bodies<br />
such as BRICS.<br />
BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, <strong>China</strong><br />
and South Africa, a grouping that provides its members with<br />
opportunities to initiate economic arrangements.<br />
The conference’s theme was “Capturing the SADC Opportunities”<br />
as under BRICS arrangement South Africa is<br />
expected to push for the SADC to integrate trade and policies<br />
with the other members. (Xinhuanet)<br />
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