CIC pursuing investment opportunities in Russia

HARBIN -- The China Investment Corporation (CIC), China's sovereign wealth fund, will pursue opportunities to make direct investment in Russia, its chairman told a forum on investment projects between China and Russia on Thursday.

Lou Jiwei said that, apart from investment in the country's financial sector, the CIC is also interested in infrastructure projects in Sino-Russian border regions, and mobilizing Chinese firms to export equipment, technologies, as well as services to their northeastern neighbor.

The CIC is seeking to further cooperation with Russian enterprises through a joint investment fund set up last year by the fund and the Russian Development Bank, Lou said at the event, held in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia.

Lou said that the fund aims to raise up to $3 billion. At least 70 percent of it will be used for investment in Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

He added that the establishment of the fund will bring more investment opportunities with support from both the Chinese and Russian governments.