The China-Central and Eastern Europe Investment Cooperation Fund (China-CEE Fund) is the investment component of the
framework, a diplomatic initiative to enhance cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries, a region in China's
Belt and Road Initiative
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R), formerly known as One Belt One Road ( zh, link=no, 一带一路) or OBOR for short, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in nearly 150 ...
. The initial China-CEE Fund was established in 2013. Building on the success of the first fund, a second one was created in 2017.
The
Sino-CEEF Holding is another investment cooperation fund created out of the same framework. While the China-CEE Fund is supported by the
Export Import Bank of China, a
policy bank Policy banks of China (), policy lenders or institutional banks refer to two Chinese banks set up by State Council of China in 1994, namely The Export–Import Bank of China (Exim) and the Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC). The two ba ...
, the Sino-CEEF Fund is backed by seed money from
ICBC, a Chinese commercial bank.
Fundraising
The first stage of the China-CEE Fund was announced in 2012 with a scale of US$500 million by then Chinese Prime Minister
Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...
as part of "Twelve Measures for Promoting Friendly Cooperation with Central and Eastern European Countries".
The groundwork was laid in November 2017 for Fund II during the China-CEE Summit in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
. Chinese Prime Minister
Li Keqiang
Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...
announced additional funding for the second phase of the fund. Other investors joined and contributed to Fund II and in April 2018 the total raised was US$800 million. The investors were Export Import Bank of China, Magyar Eximbank, Silk Road Fund and CEE Equity Partners.
Fund II's investor adviser is CEE Equity Partners.
Investments
* Acquisition of Energy 21 a.s., an operator of solar power plants in the Czech Republic, by the first stage of the fund from Mid-Europa Partners and Darby Private Equity for an undisclosed amount.
* Acquisition by Fund II of 15 grain silos and logistics hubs in Romania from the Brise Group for €60 million in 2019.
References
{{One Belt, One Road
Belt and Road Initiative