China’s US$1.35 trillion Sovereign Wealth Fund Chooses Hong Kong for First Global Advisory Council Meeting Outside Mainland: sources

· It will be first such meeting outside mainland China since the fund’s global advisory council was established in July 2009

· The meeting, slated for the second half of the year, has received the blessing from the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, sources say

China Investment Corp (CIC), the nation’s US$1.35 trillion wealth fund, plans to assemble its global advisers in Hong Kong later this year for their first meeting outside mainland China since the council was established 14 years ago, according to people familiar with the matter.

The meeting of CIC’s International Advisory Council in the city is slated for the second half of the year, said the sources, who declined to be identified because the information is private.

The council – whose 12 current members include former Governor of the People’s Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan, former Goldman Sachs chairman John Thornton, former Hong Kong secretary for financial services Frederick Ma Si-hang and former Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission chairman Andrew Sheng – is expected to share geopolitical and macroeconomic insights during the meeting, and analyse global market conditions, the people added.

The meeting has received the blessing from the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), one of the sources said, which will provide necessary help including liaising with other ministries, the person added.

“The [HKMAO] office is very supportive of this matter, as it is a vote of confidence for Hong Kong,” the person said.