REPRESENTATIVES of the sovereign wealth funds of China, Australia, Russia and other governments defended the funds against criticism they use their investments for political ends, saying yesterday that they are a force for global stability.

At the end of a two-day meeting, representatives to the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds said such funds should be treated as normal investors so long as they disclose their government mandate and act as commercial entities.

“There is no reason to discriminate against them,” said David Murray, chairman of the board of guardians of Australia’s Future Fund, at a news conference. He was ending a term as the forum’s chairman.

Such funds invest government revenues, often from sales of oil and other resources, and have grown amid the global commodities boom. They have faced questions from critics about whether they invest for political reasons, such as to gain access to sensitive technology.

The 23-member forum, founded in 2008, includes funds from Canada, Chile, Qatar, Norway and New Zealand. Alaska’s fund that invests revenues from the state’s oil production is also a member.

Estimates of total SWF assets range as high as US$4 trillion, though some major funds do not disclose the size of their holdings. Abu Dhabi’s fund is believed to be the world’s biggest with up to US$500 billion in assets but does not release details.

The forum proposed operating principles for funds in 2008 to reassure potential recipient countries they were commercial entities, rather than tools of government policy.

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GOLDMAN Sachs set up its first yuan-denominated private-equity fund in Beijing yesterday, signaling the United States investment bank’s long-term commitment to China, according to a source familiar with the deal.

The 5 billion yuan (US$769 million) fund will mainly invest in restructuring projects of state-owned companies and firms in emerging industries in cities on the Chinese mainland, the source told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein attended a deal signing ceremony with Beijing State-owned Assets Management Co to set up the joint equity fund, the source said.

Goldman Sachs Beijing office declined to comment.

Since 2009, Blackstone, TPG Capital and Carlyle have announced plans to launch yuan-denominated PE funds on the mainland. The three firms will raise a combined 20 billion yuan.

Last month, Blackstone said it aims to raise 5 billion yuan in its first round raising with support from government institutions and state-owned enterprises.

In February last year, United States buyout giant Carlyle Group teamed up with China’s largest privately-owned conglomerate Fosun Group to launch a US$100 million yuan-denominated PE fund in Shanghai.

SMC Capital China, a subsidiary under Hong Kong-based Simon Murray Group, said it plans to boost the combined size of yuan-denominated funds under its management to 8 billion yuan in at least eight Chinese cities by 2015.

Shanghai-headquartered SMC Capital now has three yuan-denominated funds totaling 1 billion yuan under management. Two of the funds are with the government in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and Wuxi’s Guolian Group while the third is with Dalian’s government.

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BUDGET hotel operator 7 Days Inn Group, China’s second-largest by chain size, yesterday reported a “better-than-expected” net revenue rise of 39.2 percent year on year in the first quarter of this year as it continued to expand rapidly across the country.

Net revenue in the three-month period totaled 421 million yuan (US$64.2 million), the Guangzhou-based hotelier said in a statement.

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