China Development Bank Forms Investment Fund

China Development Bank, the state-controlled lender, said Tuesday that it was forming a 35 billion yuan ($5.1 billion) investment fund. The wholly-owned subsidiary will invest in projects that will aid in China’s development through direct and private equity investments, the bank said in a statement. The fund will also help Chinese companies acquire resources abroad. The development bank, whose investments include a 3 percent stake in the British banking group Barclays, said that it was folding some of the nonfinancial stakes it holds, including invetsments in some natural-resource companies, into the new unit. Those companies include Aluminum Corporation of China, Jinchuan Group and the Jincheng Anthracite Mining Group. It will also incorporate its stakes of foreign development funds like the China-Africa Development Fund, Haitong-Fortis Private Equity Fund and Bohai Industrial Fund. The China Finance Ministry controls 51 percent of the China Development Bank, with the other 49 percent controlled by China Investment Corporation, the nation’s $200 billion sovereign wealth fund.