CIC's lucrative research last year invests in U.S. high-speed rail

China's sovereign investment Fund, CIC, has made good investment gains in the past 2009, thanks to a steady rebound in the global economy and a rebound in financial markets, people familiar with the matter said yesterday.　　The company is now looking into the possibility of further widening the scope of the investment, including the U.S. high-speed rail.　　Last August, CIC's 2008 annual report showed that in 2008 CIC achieved a net profit of $23.13 billion (at a 6.83 exchange rate of about 158 billion yuan), with a return of 6.8% per cent for the company, but a return of a global portfolio (i.e. offshore investment) of 2.1%. Analysts believe that in 2008 market conditions were extremely depressed, CIC's return on capital is still 6.8%, 2009 global financial market overall rebound sharply, CIC foreign investment earnings certainly not low, and its subsidiary-Huijin is expected to be from the investment of several banks and securities companies to obtain a very substantial dividend,　　So the return on investment is likely to exceed 10% over the year.　　In the area of investment, according to CIC's announcement, the 2009-year investment sector includes projects in the areas of energy, power generation and infrastructure, but the share of investment is not more than 20%. CIC is now investing a certain proportion of its money in commodities and infrastructure to hedge against the risks posed by financial products and inflationary expectations, according to Mr Lou.