China Investment Corp., (CIC) China’s $650 billion sovereign wealth fund is shifting its investment focus into global agriculture by partnering with governments, multilateral organizations, and institutional investors. The CIC plans to funnel investments into sectors such as irrigation, animal feed production, and land transformation – sectors that it sees as overlooked by institutional investors. At its formation in 2007 the CIC focused mainly on buying stakes in U.S. financial institutions such as Blackstone Private Equity and Morgan Stanley, but when the financial crisis hit in 2008 it shifted investments into energy, mining and metals to support China’s industrial growth. In recent years, Beijing has moved to shift its economy from one driven by heavy industry to one driven by consumption and rising living standards. This change in direction is reflected in the CIC’s growing investments in food production.
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