China's Silk Road fund eyes listings among exit strategies: CEO

[BEIJING] China's US$40 billion 'Silk Road' infrastructure fund will explore market listings and government transfers as potential strategies for divesting from successful projects, the fund's chief executive said on Saturday. "With respect to strong projects, we hope to exit them once they come to market," Jin Qi, chief executive of Silk Road Fund Co Ltd, said at a conference in Shanghai. "In the case of infrastructure projects that are long-term in nature, after the project is completed and put into operation, we can use methods such as a transfer to government, a sale back to the main business, a listing, or share transfers," Ms Jin said.

China announced last year it would contribute US$40 billion to set up the Silk Road infrastructure fund to boost connectivity across Asia. It has said the fund would focus on China's Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, which aim to build roads, railways, ports and airports in the region.

The fund made its first acquisition in April, investing US$125 million in a Chinese company developing energy projects in Pakistan. The investment secured a 15 per cent holding in Hong Kong-based China Three Gorges South Asia Ltd, and matched a stake acquired by The International Finance Corporation, the private investment arm of the World Bank.

The governor of China's central bank was reported as saying in February that the fund had started work along the lines of a private equity venture.

REUTERS