HispanicBusiness

The China Investment Corporation, which manages and invests $300 billion of China's reserves, in compliance with regulations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has revealed the amounts and destiny of investments it has made in the U.S. private sector.

The amount reported, of US$9.6 billion as of December 31, is relatively small, compared to Chinese investment in U.S. Treasurys, which in November reached almost $790 billion, making of China the largest U.S. creditor, ahead of Japan.

The destiny of Chinese private sector investments reveals a search for diversification and no political bias. As illustrated for example by investments in three banks, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Citigroup, or consumer product companies, such as Apple computers, CocaCola, Johnson & Johnson, Motorola and VISA, the credit card company.

China has also invested in companies dedicated to the production of commodities, which benefit from the Chinese economy almost inexhaustible demand for raw materials. For instance, the biggest investment reported was a $3.5 billion investment in the Canadian mining company Tek Resources, which operates in South America. The reason for reporting this investment in a Canadian company is because Tek Resources shares are traded in the United States.

Finally, about one-fourth of the investments listed go to indexed finds, including $186.7 million in an emerging markets fund, or $207 million in the Europe, Australasia and Far East Index Fund.

This is the first time that the China Investment Corporation has provided this kind of information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Isaac Cohen is the former director of the Washington Office of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). He is a commentator on economic and financial issues for CNN en Espanol TV and radio.