What’s in it for the Chinese?
registered companies and became a director of Canterbury Property Trust Ltd in August.
He is also a director of Silverstream1 Ltd which was registered on June 30, last year with a Greek national, Sophie Angela Pispinis, as sole shareholder. She lives in Australia.
A closer look at Guoxin International Development Company (GID) reveals it is part of a huge conglomerate.
It is the international arm of Guoxin Tendering Group which was formed by the National Development and Reform Committee of China in 1999.
Since 1999 it has been restructured and its shareholding diversified so it is now owned by Xinhua Real Estate Corporation, the Shenua Group and Beijing Capital Group.
The group is said to have completed over 20,000 projects to the value of about US$200b and appears to have launched its bid to move into the financial and investment business in 2013 with a fund given the catchy title, China Development Bank Urban Transportation Investment and Development Fund.
Its partner in the fund is the China Development Bank Capital Corporation.
The Guoxin Group, like many Chinese companies, is engaged in a strategy to upgrade and transform by reaching out to the world.
Over the last year or two, it has partnered with Infrastructure Capital Group, one of the largest infrastructure fund managers in Australia to form the Infrastructure Capital International Fund with about US$1.5b to spend.
GID set up an office in Melbourne last year, the same year its parent, the Guoxin Tendering Group, signed an agreement to work together with Sedgman Ltd, a giant mineral processing company, and Max Christmas Pty Ltd, a property company owned by Queensland businessman Max Christmas.
In April last year GID signed a longterm strategic agreement with CITIC Heavy Industries Ltd over CITIC’s heavy equipment products.
CITIC Group is one of the largest conglomerates in China.
A key figure in GID is William Wu, a Chinese accountant who joined the CITIC Group in 1988 straight out of Beijing University.
He has worked for JP Morgan, Anglo Chinese Group, Macquarie Bank and Austa Energy.
He is now GID’s executive vicechairman based in Sydney.
China’s direct foreign investment overtook inward foreign direct investment last year when it invested an estimated US$120b, according to KPMG’s
publication. In the report KPMG partner in China, Vaughn Barber, says China is in the fast lane on its way to being a global investor.
Investments are helping Chinese companies get access to new markets and
The Guoxin Group, like many Chinese companies, is engaged in a strategy to upgrade and transform by reaching out to the world.
get the experience, technology, brands and human capital needed to become competitive, he says.
Recipient companies benefited from capital, experience, cost-competitive inputs and expanded markets.
‘‘There is an increasing recognition that Chinese companies can achieve success in areas like infrastructure and agribusiness by partnering with incumbent players in key markets.’’
Last year the Guoxin Group combined with CITIC and China Minmetals to buy mining company Xstrata Las Bambas in Peru for US$7b.