China CIC invests $800 mln in M.Stanley fund-source

HONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters) - China Investment Corp (CIC), the country's $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, has committed $800 million in a new $6 billion global real estate fund to be managed by Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley (MS.N), according to a person who has direct knowledge of the deal.

Earlier on Tuesday, sources told Reuters that Morgan Stanley, partly invested by CIC, is close to raising $6 billion for a new global property fund, falling short of its earlier target of $10 billion. [ID:nHKG179514].

The Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund VII Global, the latest in the Wall Street bank's series of international property investment funds, began raising money from institutional investors in early 2008.

CIC is one of the earliest institutional investors, also known as "limited partners", to make a capital commitment to the Morgan Stanley fund, said the source who declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the matter.

A CIC representative could not be immediately reached for comment. Morgan Stanley declined to comment. (Reporting by George Chen, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)