China's Minsheng to invest $1.5bn in London

Shanghai - China Minsheng Investment (CMI), the country's largest private investment fund, said on Saturday it would invest $1.5bn in a Chinese-led project to develop a new financial district in London.

The project is one of the largest Chinese investments in the United Kingdom in recent years and one of the most significant for Minsheng, which launched last August with registered capital of 50 billion yuan.

The private equity firm said it would become the majority investor in the project, which was unveiled in 2013 by Chinese developer Advanced Business Park (ABP) and Mayor Boris Johnson and touted as potentially London's third financial centre after the City and Canary Wharf.