About

Established in December 2014, Silk Road Fund is a $40bn state-owned fund that invests under China’s new strategic initiatives, namely the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, often referred to as the Belt and Road Initiative. Cao Hui joined the company in May 2015 to serve as deputy general counsel of the fund. Drawing on her 12 years of experience in private practice, in a short space of time Cao has already earned industry recognition for the support she provides to the activities of Silk Road Fund, which are designed to boost links between China and countries on trade routes from Asia to Europe. As Cao’s role combines compliance, strategy, and transactional work for the Fund, highlights of her time include concluding Silk Road Fund’s acquisition of a 9.9% stake in the Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to construct a plant with annual capacity of 16.5 million tons per annum based on the feedstock resources of the South-Tambeyskoye field. Cao also participated in financing the project by securing the Fund’s provision of an additional loan of €730m. In another proposed deal, Cao was involved in an equity investment agreement with global Fortune 500 company China National Chemical Corporation to take a 25% stake in a joint venture for the purpose of making a $7.7bn acquisition of Italian tire maker Pirelli. In dealing with the international scope of her role, Cao has gained further recognition for her ability in handling legal and business risks across the Belt and Road Initiatives where there are diverse cultural differences. Prior to her current role, Cao gained private practice experience in New York and Beijing at international law firms including Coudert Brothers, Schulte Roth & Zabel, O’Melveny & Meyers and Steptoe & Johnson.