China CIC halves funding request to $100 bln -report

SHANGHAI, April 1 (Reuters) - China Investment Corp (CIC), the country's $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, has cut by half, to $100 billion, the amount of new funding it is seeking from the government, according to domestic media.

An earlier proposal by CIC [CIC.UL] to the finance ministry for $200 billion in additional funding was not approved, the China Business News said, citing an unnamed source.

Media reports early this year and late last year said that CIC was seeking an additional $200 billion in cash to manage.

The fund completed most of its investments for its initial funding in 2009, leaving relatively little cash on hand, but whether it would receive new funding was up to the central government to decide, Executive Vice President Jesse Wang said last month.

CIC was set up in September 2007, with the aim of seeking higher returns for part of the country's massive stockpile of foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $2.39 trillion at the end of 2009. ($1=6.83 Yuan) (Reporting by Samuel Shen and Jason Subler; Editing by Ken Wills)