China to invest in Britain's infrastructure?

When the Chancellor mentions that Sovereign Wealth Funds are welcome to invest in UK roads he is, of course, including China.

George Osborne was in Beijing in early February, before that in November 2010 when he had meetings with the bosses of CIC, China's sovereign wealth fund.

China has around £1.8 Trillion of foreign currency reserves, a mountain of money that needs a big hole to keep it in.

US treasury bonds have been the favoured destination for the piles of cash. With US/China relations cool and the US economy slumped the Chinese are open to other destinations for their cash.

So we could see British tax payers money being paid to the Chinese State, via the firm they have set up to run UK roads.

Note that the Chinese Sovereign Fund recently bought a few drops of Thames Water, a small chunk of the company, which was seen as Beijing dipping its toes into the UK infrastructure market.

A sign that the tide of Chinese cash may be turning and coming this way.

The road to investment in the UK is open as far as the Chancellor is concerned.