China Investment Corp Reports Loss

China Investment Corp., the mainland's sovereign wealth fund, reported Friday in its first-ever annual report that its global investment portfolio suffered a loss of 2.1%, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency , MarketWatch reports.

However, CIC said in its first annual report that overall investment returns were US$24 billion due to its wholly-owned unit Central Huijin Investment Co, the controlling shareholder of state-run Chinese banks , Channel News Asia reports.

"We are very happy to see that in 2008, when the global economic environment was horrible, CIC achieved a 6.8 percent return on capital," Lou Jiwei, its chairman, said in the report.

CIC said its global portfolio return was negative 2.1 percent in 2008, adding this was better than other sovereign wealth funds, university endowments and pension funds , Reuters reports.