Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund Boss Cites China ‘Bubble’ Risk

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund boss named credit excesses and the property market as two of the biggest challenges facing China.

The “credit excesses built up since the global financial crisis need to be reduced and the potential property market bubble needs to be contained,” Lim Chow Kiat, the chief executive officer of GIC Pte, said at a forum in Beijing. “Progress has been made, but problems remain large, especially in ensuring that growth is not derailed.”

Key tasks for the nation include the ongoing shift from investment to consumption, improving corporate governance, controlling pollution, and reducing poverty, he said. “Any one of these is no easy task for such a large and diverse economy that is also aging rapidly,” Lim said.

GIC also sees the positive effects of change in China, which will “drive growth in many sectors such as consumer goods, healthcare, education, financial services and technology,” Lim said.

Some of the Singapore firm’s investments in the nation include a rental-apartment platform and participation in a $260 million financing round for CStone, a Suzhou-based biopharmaceutical firm that develops immuno-oncology drugs. GIC also last month helped to establish a $2 billion fund that will focus on logistics in China.

Globally, Lim cited excessive monetary tightening as a key risk. While the event was on Oct. 18, to mark the 20th anniversary of the fund’s first office in China, GIC just released Lim’s speech.

To contact the reporter on this story: Pooja Thakur in Singapore at pthakur@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Katrina Nicholas at knicholas2@bloomberg.net, Paul Panckhurst

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