Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- China’s $297.5 billion sovereign wealth fund is stepping up investments in commodities companies, agreeing to spend $2.75 billion in the last two days.

“China is relatively resources short, and it’s not a secret that CIC has this long-term strategy to buy resources overseas,” said Fraser Howie, author of the book “Privatizing China,” in a phone interview from Singapore. “It seems it is finding its feet after the financial investments it made earlier, which brought it criticism at home.”

“China has prioritized the strategy of overseas commodity acquisitions as the nation’s resources shortage becomes the constraint for its economic growth,” saidShi Yan, an analyst at UOB-Kay Hian Ltd. in Shanghai. “Now is a good time to buy resources after commodity prices dropped.”

Stepping Up

CIC had 87.4 percent of its assets of $297.5 billion in cash or equivalents last year, it said last month. It will actively grasp investment opportunities this year after slowing spending in 2008 because of the global financial crisis, the company said in a statement on Aug. 7.

The sovereign fund bought a 17 percent stake in Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified mining company, in July for C$1.74 billion ($1.5 billion) as the Canadian company sought to reduce debt.

“They stepped up investment recently, but you never know when they are going to make the next investment,” Howie said. “They were pretty quiet for a while and it could be next week or next month when they make another investment. It’s a big deal for the company, but for the world, there are a lot of commodities.”

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund also is shifting to commodity investments after the global financial crisis drove down the value of its stakes in Bank of America Corp. and Barclays Plc, causing it to report a profit that dropped a record 66 percent in the 12 months to March 31. Temasek Holdings Pte agreed to buy 13.76 percent of Singapore-based commodities supplier Olam International Ltd. in June.

China established its sovereign wealth fund in 2007 to help manage the nation’s $2 trillion of foreign-exchange reserves.