China's buying spree is definitely accelerating as they attempt to rid themselves of rapidly depreciating USD's.

The race is on - VHF

China Fund Buys Nearly 1 Percent of BP

Tue April 15, 2008

By Tom Bergin and Alan Wheatley

LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) - China has accumulated a stake of just under 1 percent in BP, raising fresh questions about Beijing's strategy for investing its huge foreign currency reserves.

A spokesman for BP, Britain's largest company, said it was aware of the Chinese stake, which is worth about $2 billion (1 billion pounds), and that it welcomed all shareholders.

He declined to name the identity of the investor but The Daily Telegraph said it was the same Chinese state fund that had built up a stake in French oil giant Total.

That fund is the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), an arm of the central bank that manages China's $1.68 trillion in currency reserves, the Financial Times reported last week. It said SAFE's stake in Total of 1.6 percent was worth about $2.8 billion.

Analysts say it is unclear whether the purchase of stakes in Western oil majors reflects China's desire to secure energy assets to fuel its booming economy, a drive which has led to big investments in Africa, or simply a case of diversifying assets.