Keeping Chinese Investment in Perspective

Olivia Killeen / March 11, 2010

Discussion of Chinese investment in the United States usually focuses on U.S. government bonds held by China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE). While SAFE directs the majority of Chinese investment in the United States, including all China’s bond purchases, it plays very little role in non-bond investment. The China Investment Corporation (CIC) is the sovereign wealth fund responsible for allocating a portion of China’s foreign exchange reserves through non-bond investments. Indeed, CIC activities have accounted for more than 80% of Chinese non-bond investment in the U.S. since it was established in 2007. (more…)