From the UK FT this morning:...

From the UK FT this morning: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/47cc33ea-08e5-11de-b8b0-0000779fd2ac.html

China Investment Corporation, the country’s fledgling sovereign wealth fund, has turned its attention to the commodities sector, where prices have collapsed partly because of lower demand from China.

CIC is scouring the globe for opportunities to invest in mining and natural resources companies, according to Beijing-based bankers and officials, who say the fund’s preferred role will be as a financier and facilitator for state-owned companies wanting to make offshore acquisitions. After a series of disastrous investments in offshore financial institutions – Blackstone, Morgan Stanley – CIC went through a period of apparent paralysis until this year, when it began looking closely at the commodities sector.

Lou Jiwei, CIC’s chairman and chief executive, travelled to Australia on a courtesy visit in February, just before planned investments in Rio Tinto, Oz Minerals and Fortescue Metals by Chinese companies were made public.

“Many commodities are undervalued and are among our considerations for potential investments,” Jesse Wang, CIC’s executive vice-president, told reporters on the sidelines of the country’s legislative advisory body in Beijing on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.

This is exactly what CIC denied it was going to do when it was established in 2007, as it tried to allay fears that “China Inc” was preparing to buy up the world.

In spite of its earlier protestations, CIC now seems to have accepted a role as piggy bank for China Inc’s global expansion.

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I don't think THEY'd have any problems paying the required price. Dattels has good contacts with China, via Regent Pacific, as well as with Areva. You can almost see the $$$$ signs in his eyes. :0)