(Yicai) Sept. 8 -- Norges Bank Investment Management said it will close its representative office in Shanghai, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund manager’s only one in China, adding that this will not impact its investments in the world’s second-largest economy.

“The decision is driven by operational considerations and does not affect the fund's investment strategy or our investments in China,” NBIM, which manages the assets of Norway’s NOK15 trillion (USD1.5 trillion) sovereign wealth fund, announced on its website yesterday. NBIM’s Singapore office, which serves as its Asia region hub, will oversee China operations, it said.

The decision to close the Shanghai office is an adjustment of NBIM's business operating model, the Oslo-based firm pointed out. The office opened in November 2007 and has 8 employees, it noted.

NBIM had invested about USD42 billion across 850 Chinese firms as of the end of last year. It owns stakes in 23 Chinese mainland-listed companies, including Shennan Circuit and Hisense Home Appliances Group, according to data from Wind.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, returned 13.7 percent on its equity investments in the first half of this year and 2.2 percent on its fixed income investments, NBIM said on Aug. 16. Investments in unlisted real estate returned minus 4.6 percent, and in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure the loss was 6.5 percent, it added.

“The stock market has been very strong in the first half of the year, following a weak year in 2022,” Chief Executive Nicolai Tangen noted. “Especially technology stocks have seen significant growth, largely driven by the increased demand for new solutions in artificial intelligence.”

Editor: Martin Kadiev