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China Investment Corp is turning its back on countries that are suspicious of sovereign wealth funds, Gao Xiqing, CIC’s president and chief investment officer, said on Friday.

Gao told a mergers and acquisitions conference that CIC “has a problem” that countries are defining more industries as strategically important.

“Some think we are from a Cold War area and Red China. We are still regarded very much by many countries as a potential threat,” Gao, speaking in English, said.

“We are trying to get financial returns. If there is too much political pressure and too much unpredictability, you just go away,” he said.

“Fortunately, there are more than 200 countries in the world. And fortunately, there are many countries who are happy with us,” he added.

Gao said CIC had walked away from a potential investment in an unnamed country after its leaders flagged political concerns instant payday loan. “We then stopped reviewing that case,” he said.

CIC, which was set up last September to earn higher returns on a portion of China’s official reserves, would soon start making investments in global equities and bonds through fund managers that it is in the process of appointing, Gao said.

In that connection, a source told Reuters earlier this week that CIC was in final talks to entrust each of eight overseas asset managers with $250-600 million worth of fixed income funds focused on emerging markets. 

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