By Li Fei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-13 07:31

China's first sovereign wealth fund will take a cautious and prudent approach toward its investment and business operations, the finance minister said Wednesday.

China Investment Corporation (CIC) was set up in September with an initial amount $200 billion according to the Company Law, and is intended to seek long-term returns, Finance Minister Xie Xuren said Wednesday during a break in the Third China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED).

"The CIC will be run as a business entity and be effectively supervised," Xie said, with the safety of its investment also a priority.

"It (CIC) will keep close contact with regulators and consult them earnestly, and respect international rules and local laws of countries where it will operate," Xie said.

Sovereign wealth funds have a history of more than 50 years. They are a valuable way of allocating investment capital, and a useful tool to help stabilize and promote global growth.

Last month, CIC Chairman Lou Jiwei said the company needed a few months to prepare for "major" investments and would eventually play a "stabilizing role" as the global economy weathers the fallout of the US subprime crisis.

The CIC has already put $3 billion into US investment firm Blackstone but two-thirds of its fund will be earmarked for domestic investments.