China Investment Corp. (CIC), the $200-billion sovereign wealth fund, looked for alternative investment targets aside from its previous interest in financial companies.

Open information on the website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed at the end of December 31, 2009, CIC held a total of $9.63 billion worth of U.S. stocks, including those of Apple Inc. and media guru Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Both are NASDAQ-100 companies.

At the beginning of CIC's voyage onto the global arena in 2007, it held a special interest in investing in foreign financial institutions. The ensuing global credit crunch threw CIC into a quagmire as its invested firms encountered severe losses.

After the initial setback, CIC readjusted its aggressive investment strategy and focused on the real industry instead of financial institutions.

In 2008, the return on capital was merely 6.8 percent, while the figure for 2009 is expected to be around 10 percent.

Currently, a large proportion of China's foreign reserves are dollar-related assets. Most have been used to buy U.S. Treasury securities. CIC, with funding from foreign reserves, looks to diversify its investment portfolio to hedge against risks.