China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country's $200-billion sovereign wealth fund, is in talks to take a minority stake in power company AES Corp, the Wall Street Journal said yesterday, citing unnamed sources.

The possible deal is part of wide-ranging discussions aimed at building an alliance between AES and China Investment Corp, the paper said. It said that CIC could also take a significant stake in AES later on.

The paper said that the two companies are also in discussions to set up a joint venture, in which CIC would provide capital to support AES in developing power plants around the globe. The talks are still at a sensitive stage, according to the paper. It said they might not produce a deal.

CIC spokesman yesterday declined to comment.

The sovereign fund has stepped up its investment pace this year, as downside risks in the global economy have eased considerably. The $200-billion sovereign wealth fund is looking to invest as much overseas each month this year as it did in all of 2008, CIC Chairman Lou Jiwei said recently.

CIC is eyeing investment opportunities in infrastructure, green energy and other forms of innovative energy transmission, Zhou Yuan, CIC's head of special investments department, said at an infrastructure conference in Hong Kong last Wednesday.

The fund had last week said it was planning to invest up to $2 billion in US mortgages as it expects the property market to recover.

(China Daily September 15, 2009)