Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words funds+government. 3 news.

THE China Development Bank and the Tianjin Binhai New Area signed an agreement to set up a venture capital fund to boost high-technology start-ups in the fastest-growing economic zone in north China. The Ministry of Science and Technology Website released yesterday the joint efforts to kick off the first government-backed venture capital worth two billion yuan (US$270 million) with equal contributions from the CDB and the TBNA. Pi Qiansheng, a vice-ministerial official who heads the TBNA administration, said the government funded and operated venture capital would primarily perform as a fund of funds, an investment fund that has a strategy of holding a portfolio of other investment funds rather than investing in tangible projects. Pi said that the fund of funds will choose outstanding domestic and overseas venture capital funds, including private equity funds, to invest. The selected venture capital funds will be asked to prioritize their investment portfolio in high-technology

The relentless march of sovereign wealth funds continues apace as the Singapore Government's Temasek vehicle emerged with an 18 per cent stake in Asia-focused banking group Standard Chartered.

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung said Saturday that the government has provided NT$1.8 trillion (US$555.56 million) in funds for housing loans over the past seven years to help the construction sector recover from a protracted recession.