AN influential lawmaker Friday shrugged off losses by the country's sovereign wealth fund on its stake in Blackstone Group, saying the government had to take a long-term, strategic view of its investments.

China Investment Corp. (CIC) bought nearly 10 percent of Blackstone in May for US$3 billion prior to the U.S. private equity firm's initial public offering (IPO).

The shares have fallen more than 30 percent since the IPO, prompting sometimes fierce criticism in Chinese Internet chat rooms.

But Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said China's investments had to be strategic because no one could predict short-term market changes.

Asked at a forum whether he was worried by the Blackstone losses, Cheng said: "In my view, on investment issues, we should hold a long-term view and not look at the sudden rise or sudden fall of a particular company.

"And for China's foreign investment, we should be strategic rather than taking a short-term approach. That is very important."

Cheng said China's accumulation of foreign exchange reserves, which topped US$1.43 trillion at the end of September, was putting huge pressure on domestic monetary policy.

He also said full-year gross domestic product growth would exceed 11 percent. GDP in the first nine months was up 11.5 percent from the same period last year. (SD-Agencies)