China, UAE launch $10 bln investment fund

The United Arab Emirates has signed an agreement with China to establish a $10 billion joint investment fund, the two governments said in a statement on Monday.

The aim behind the launch of the fund— for which both countries will provide equal finance— is to build a balanced portfolio of diversified commercial investments across sectors.

The joint fund will be managed and operated by Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Development Company, along with China Development Bank Capital (CDBC), and China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

It will cover a range of initiatives that support the "development and advancement of sectors of mutual strategic interest for the UAE and China, such conventional and renewable energy, infrastructure, technology and advanced manufacturing,"

The agreement was signed during Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, visit to China.

Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Petroleum and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) also agreed to sign a non-binding agreement to boost collaboration in the upstream oil and gas sector outside the UAE, particularly for onshore conventional, offshore, and LNG projects, the statement said.

The agreements came as Emirates, the UAE’s flagship carrier, announced on Monday that it will expand its services to China to include Yinchuan and Zhangzhou beginning May 3.

Emirates will now fly to a total of five cities in mainland China.