China's sovereign wealth fund sees big return from 2020 overseas investment

BEIJING -- China Investment Corporation (CIC), a sovereign wealth fund in the country, reported a net annual return of 14.07 percent from its overseas investments on a US dollar basis last year.

That has put its net annualized overseas 10-year return at 6.82 percent, 128 basis points higher than its 10-year performance target, according to an annual report published by the CIC.

Founded in September 2007, CIC was established as a vehicle to diversify China's foreign exchange holdings. It has three subsidiaries -- CIC International, CIC Capital and Central Huijin.

CIC International and CIC Capital are responsible for overseas investment activities, while Central Huijin undertakes equity investments in the domestic market.

CIC's total assets have expanded to $1.2 trillion by the end of 2020, with its net assets standing at $1.1 trillion, data from the report showed.

Currently, CIC's overseas portfolio consists of public equity, fixed income, alternative assets and cash products.

Faced with the unprecedented challenges amid COVID-19, CIC has remained consistent in its strategic focus, positioned as a long-term institutional investor and saw strong performance despite global headwinds, said Peng Chun, Chairman and CEO of CIC, in the report.

The CIC has also continued to find new ways to deploy capital overseas, strengthened its outbound investment partnerships and pushed ahead with new bilateral fund initiatives, according to Peng.