BEIJING, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

In a signing ceremony in Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao today witnessed the launch of the Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF). The $2-4 billion fund, established jointly by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and China Investment Corp (CIC), aims to generate strong returns from equity investments in projects that take advantage of the increasingly robust economic relationship between Russia and China.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of RDIF, and Lou Jiwei, Chairman and CEO of CIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding on completing the establishment of the joint fund and outlining the key principles for managing and investing the fund. In remarks following the signing, Dmitriev and Lou emphasized that the fund's focus is on delivering competitive returns for its investors:

"We are pleased to have the RCIF fully up and running. Our primary focus now is on making investments that deliver strong risk-adjusted returns. We are fortunate in that Russia and China are both big, rapidly growing markets that offer a wealth of investment opportunities across a variety of sectors," Dmitriev said, adding that he expects the fund's first investments to focus on sectors like engineering, agriculture, forestry, transportation, and logistics to be announced still this year. "Creation of the this fund underscores the transition in Russia-China relations from a trade partnership to an investment-technology-trade partnership."

Lou Jiwei said: "We are delighted to work with RDIF. Together, we will seek to tap investment opportunities through the new fund, in the quest for good returns and win-win solutions."

More than 70 percent of the fund's capital will be invested in businesses and projects across Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States, and up to 30 percent will focus on Chinese businesses and projects with Russian involvement.

RDIF was set up by the Russian government last year as a $10 billion private equity fund that co-invests with leading global investors in primarily Russian companies. The fund has successfully attracted co-investment commitments from leading global private equity players and sovereign wealth funds.

$1 billion will be committed to the fund by CIC and its related parties. Another $1 billion shall be committed to the fund by RDIF. The fund will seek to raise $1-2 billion of additional commitments from third-party investors.

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Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF), a private equity fund established by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and China Investment Corporation, seeks to maximize investment returns for its investors. RCIF will focus its activities on advancing bilateral economic, trade and investment relations between Russia and China.

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), established in June 2011, is to be capitalized with $10 billion in Russian government funds to make equity investments that generate strong returns. In each investment it makes, RDIF is mandated to secure co-investment that as a minimum matches its commitment, thus acting as a catalyst for direct investment into the Russian economy. Additional information is available at http://www.rdif.ru.

China Investment Corporation (CIC), founded in September 2007, is a state-owned company incorporated in accordance with China's Company Law. Headquartered in Beijing, CIC is established as an investment vehicle to diversify China's foreign exchange holdings to achieve higher risk-adjusted financial returns. It invests globally on a commercial basis across a diversified range of asset classes including equities, fixed income, property, private equity and commodities. Additional information is available at http://www.china-inv.cn.

SOURCE RDIF and CIC