SINGAPORE - Temasek Holdings Pte, Singapore's state-owned investment company, has named Ding Wei of China International Capital Corp (CICC) as country head to grow its business in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Ding, who was responsible for CICC's investment banking business, will join Temasek on Monday as it expands holdings in Asia outside Singapore and Japan. The region accounted for 46 percent of the company's S$186 billion ($145 billion) portfolio in the year ended March, up from 43 percent a year earlier, according to its website.

The investment company owns stakes in Bank of China Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp.

Ding will join as a "key member of our leadership team to anchor our long-term presence in China", Chief Executive Officer Ho Ching said in a statement on Monday.

Ding said in the statement that he wants to further expand Temasek's "significant China portfolio".

China "is not just important to Temasek, it's important globally", said Lee King Fuei, a Singapore-based money manager at Schroders Plc, which managed $286 billion as of September. "If you look at the GDP contribution to global GDP from China, it has gone up a lot over the last few years and the projection is that it will continue to grow. It's probably the right thing to have someone focused on that particular country."

Ding was Deutsche Bank AG's chief country officer for China from 1999 to 2002, and worked at the World Bank for 12 years before that.

Bloomberg News

(China Daily 02/23/2011 page16)