Abu Dhabi may consolidate some of its Chinese investments into a new entity as it looks to increase its exposure to the world’s second-largest economy. The plan would involve merging the China assets of two of its sovereign wealth funds: L’IMAD Holding, the fund chaired by Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed, and Mubadala, Bloomberg reported.
A jointly controlled vehicle would put Sheikh Khalid, whose profile is rapidly rising, alongside Mubadala boss and UAE special envoy to China Khaldoon Al Mubarak. The latter is a long-time confidant of Sheikh Khaled’s father, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed, and accompanied Sheikh Khaled on meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing last week.
That visit coincided with the UAE asking the US Federal Reserve for a financial backstop, according to The Wall Street Journal. Emirati officials had told the US they could use China’s currency for oil sales or other transactions if they run short of dollars. But that’s unlikely anytime soon: The UAE has nearly $300 billion in foreign currency reserves and around $1.8 trillion in sovereign wealth fund assets. The request is more likely a confidence-building measure than a cry for help, Bloomberg economist Ziad Daoud said.
