China acquires $3 billion stake in Blackstone

This isn’t a venture capital story, but is significant because it is an unprecedented commitment by China to a U.S. investment firm — and suggests more Chinese money may be flowing that way, possibly to VC firms. The Chinese government said it would acquire a $3 billion stake in the Blackstone Group, the private equity firm, as party of China’s efforts to diversify its $1.2 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves beyond United States Treasury bills. The New York Times has the story.

The deal will give China a roughly 8 percent stake in Blackstone. Gone were the days that investments were only going one way from the US to China. Now its China investing in the US. China had been investing abroad for years now and with more than $1.2 trillion in foreign reserves they can practically buy up many countries' economy and still have spare change.