Silk Road Fund to start investment soon

Jin Qi, chairperson of the board of the Silk Road Fund, answers questions at a press conference for the third session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) on financial reform in Beijing, capital of China, March 12, 2015. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

The board of directors and the senior management team have been formed in China's 40 billion-U.S. dollar Silk Road Fund, which will soon start investment, its chair Jin Qi said Thursday.[Special coverage]

The fund is not an aid agency, said Jin, who expects market-oriented principles in operation and reasonable returns for shareholders, including China's foreign exchange reserves, the China Investment Corp., the Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank.

The fund will comply with market rules and the international order of finance, welcoming participation by domestic and overseas investors, such as the China-Africa Development Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Jin said.

The fund is a limited liability company, according to a February statement by China's central bank.

The fund will invest mainly in infrastructure and resources, as well as industrial and financial cooperation, in an effort to achieve common development and prosperity, Jin said at a press conference on the sidelines of China's annual parliamentary session.

The fund is designed to finance the China-proposed Belt and Road initiatives, which refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in a bid to improve cooperation with countries in a vast part of Asia, Europe and Africa.

"The priority (of the Silk Road Fund Co., Ltd.) is to seek investment opportunities and provide monetary services throughout the Belt and Road initiatives," according to the February statement.

Along the route of the Silk Road, China and Russia are exploring novel financial cooperation, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the central bank, said at the same press conference.

China and Russia are huge neighboring economies, with large amount of money in their trade and investment, Zhou said.