(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) The head of China's giant sovereign-wealth fund sees mounting risks of a breakup of the euro zone, and says the fund has scaled back its holdings of stocks and bonds across the continent.
The comments by Lou Jiwei, chairman of China Investment Corp., are among the most bearish pronouncements yet on Europe by a senior Chinese official, said the Wall Street Journal Sunday.
They reflect growing dismay in Beijing at how European leaders are handling the escalating crisis in China's largest export market, and anxiety over the potential for global contagion,the newspaper added.
Lou Jiwei, chairman of the China Investment Corp., said he sees mounting risks of a breakup of the euro zone.
"There is a risk that the euro zone may fall apart and that risk is rising," Lou said in an interview his first with a Western media organization in five years.
With about $410 billion in assets under management, CIC is the fifth-largest sovereign fund in the world. It was founded by the Chinese government in 2007 to seek better returns for China's currency reserves, which were typically parked in low-yielding securities such as U.S. Treasurys.
Chinese leaders have singled out better management of China's $3.3 trillion foreign-exchange reserves, the world's largest, as a priority for the financial sector.
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