Saudi wealth fund PIF opens Shanghai office to facilitate China dealmaking

[SHANGHAI] Saudi Arabia’s US$1 trillion wealth fund started operating a second office in mainland China earlier this year, as part of its efforts to deepen investment ties with the world’s second-largest economy.

The Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) office in Shanghai was registered last year, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified as the information is private. It falls under the investor’s outpost in Beijing led by Lily Cong, a former chief representative of Fidelity International in China’s capital, the people said.

The Shanghai office was set up to enhance the PIF’s ability to do outbound deals in China, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. While the fund will continue to scout for local opportunities, officials are now keen to also draw investments from Chinese companies into Saudi Arabia, the person said.

Representatives for the PIF declined to comment.

The plans will deepen Riyadh’s ties with Beijing. While the US remains a key market, Saudi Arabia and China have deep strategic and investment ties across sectors including energy and finance.

The PIF’s peers in the Middle East are also looking to step up investments in the Asian nation. Abu Dhabi is considering plans to consolidate Chinese assets held by two of its wealth funds under a new entity, Bloomberg News has reported, potentially setting the stage for a broader overhaul of its investment strategy.

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Those moves have come amid the regional conflict, during which Teheran retaliated to strikes from the US and Israel by aiming projectiles at assets across Gulf states. Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil refinery at Ras Tanura and the kingdom’s Shaybah oil field were both targeted before a tentative ceasefire was reached in early April.

But despite growing concerns over the mounting economic costs, PIF governor Yasir Al Rumayyan has said the fund remains committed to investments around the world.

The fund has offices in cities around the world including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris. BLOOMBERG