China appoints Ding Xuedong chair of CIC

The sovereign fund said Ding's appointment was "in accordance with the decision rendered by the State Council of the People's Republic of China on July 3, 2013." Ding, 53, succeeds Lou Jiwei, who stood down as chairman earlier this year to become China's finance minister.

Previous reports suggest that CIC struggled to identify Lou's successor. Shanghai Vice Mayor Guangshao Tu and Gang Yi, deputy governor of the central bank, were tipped as possible replacements - but the former was reluctant to take the job and the latter was said to have turned it down.

The top job at CIC has been likened to poisoned chalice, with the individual shouldering the blame for past investments that have fared poorly.

Ding is relatively unknown within China and this has prompted concerns as to whether an official with little investment experience should occupy such a role.

"The CIC head should no longer be a government official, but a professional investor who has rich expertise and experiences investing in global financial markets," a fund manager who used to work for CIC told Reuters. "But his young age is a plus, which I think will enable him to learn more in his new post in the future."

Last month, CIC has named Xiaopeng Li, a former vice president at Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), as head of its supervisory board. He replaces Liqun Jin, who spent five years in the role.

Established in 2007, CIC had $482.2 billion in assets under management at the end of 2011, up from $409.2 billion the previous year. It doubled its exposure to private equity, direct investments and hedge funds in 2011 but market volatility saw the sovereign wealth fund's global portfolio retract by 4.3%, contributing to its first-ever annual loss. Net income for the year came to $48.4 billion, down 6.1% year-on-year.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• LPs
• People
• China
• CIC
• Appointments
• Sovereign wealth fund