CKI invests 1b yuan in smart energy venture

CK Infrastructure (1038) has agreed to set up a joint venture with State Power Investment Corporation, investing 1 billion yuan (HK$1.12 billion) in an energy program in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin.

CKI and other companies under Li Ka-shing have been criticized for exiting from China and Hong Kong to invest in the West, especially the United Kingdom and Europe.

CKI announced it will work with Jilin Electric Power, a Shenzhen-listed company backed by SPIC, to co-invest a total of 2.5 billion yuan to develop and operate a smart energy program in Tonghua, Jilin. CKI holds 40 percent of the investment.

The project has been selected as one of China's 13th Five-Year Plans for Energy Development. If everything goes well, CKI expects the project to be completed and start operation in two years.

This investment came after ARA Asset Management, a real estate fund manager founded by CK Asset and others, made its second investment in mainland China retail in just over six months in December with a joint acquisition of a shopping mall in Shanghai.

The Warburg Pincus-backed fund manager is joining forces with Singapore's Straits Real Estate and ICBC International to jointly acquire the Sanlin InCity Mall for 2.42 billion yuan, according to a stock exchange announcement. The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year.