Dragon on a Short Leash: An Inside-Out Analysis of China Investment Corporation

Rapid growth in the number and size of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in recent years has occasioned a broad-ranging policy debate about how best to accommodate or, indeed, limit the participation of these funds in the worlds capital markets. The announcement in March 2007 that China would open an SWF, with an initial investment of US $200 billion, substantially raised the pitch of this debate as pundits and policymakers around the world pondered the impact that Chinas massive foreign exchange reserves could have on world markets.