Chinese fund to invest £1bn in new London financial district
CHINA Minsheng Investment, the country’s largest private investment fund, said over the weekend that it would invest £1bn in a Chinese-led project to develop a new financial district in London.
The project is one of the largest Chinese investments in the UK in recent years.
The private equity firm said it would become the majority investor in the project, which was unveiled in 2013 by Chinese developer Advanced Business Park (ABP) and Mayor Boris Johnson and touted as potentially London’s third financial centre after the City and Canary Wharf.
ABP, headed by little-known Beijing businessman Xu Weiping, wants to develop a 14-hectare sliver of land at the historic Royal Albert Dock in east London into 400,000 square metres of offices and shops.
“After the project is completed, it will be the international platform and foundation for Chinese companies and capital to enter the European market,” Minsheng president Li Huaizhen told reporters in Shanghai, hours after striking a deal with the UK finance ministry.