For critics of governments that throw their financial weight around to achieve political ends, the revelation of the activities of China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe) will be yet more cause for alarm.
Even more disturbing is that such activities will be left untouched by an international drive towards transparency and accountability of sovereign investors that has been making some progress.
Under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund, an international working group with representatives from 25 countries, including China, has worked out a code of conduct for sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). The code, which has not yet been made public, will be presented to the IMF's annual meetings in Washington next month.