China’s most prominent and politically connected financier is raising a $2bn-$2.5bn fund for investments in China and abroad, according to people familiar with the matter. 知情人士称，中国最知名、在政界人脉深广的金融家正在筹组一只20亿至25亿美元的基金，用于在中国及海外投资。

Fang Fenglei, the non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs’ China subsidiaries, is raising money for a new fund to be called Hopu Master Fund II, two years after he abruptly wound down his last private equity venture. 高盛(Goldman Sachs)中国子公司的非执行董事长方风雷正为新基金“厚朴基金II”(Hopu Master Fund II)募资。两年前，他突然叫停了自己的上一个私募股权项目。

Mr Fang, 61, whose given name means “wind and thunder”, is renowned as the most politically connected and savvy banker in Chinese financial circles, and the launch of his new fund has drawn strong interest from ­investors. 现年61岁的方风雷（其名字的意思为“风和雷”）在中国金融圈子中以政治后台最硬和精明银行家闻名。他发起的新基金已引起投资者的强烈兴趣。

He has very close ties to Wang Qishan, the member of China’s ruling seven-member Politburo Standing Committee in charge of fighting corruption, and he remains the titular chairman and majority shareholder of Goldman Sachs’ operations in China. 他与中共中央政治局7人常委中负责打击腐败的王岐山关系密切，同时他仍是高盛在华业务的大股东和名义上的董事长。

The new fund has already raised $1bn, people close to the situation said. 知情人士称，这只新基金已募得10亿美元。

His decision to retire from daily operations at Goldman and establish his own private equity group in 2007 caused consternation at the US bank, which had in effect entrusted its future in China to Mr Fang in 2004 through a ­complicated shareholding arrangement. 方风雷在2007年决定退出高盛的日常业务，转而组建自己的私募股权集团，这个决定让高盛错愕，此前这家美国银行在2004年通过一项复杂的持股安排，实际上已将在华业务的未来托付给方风雷。

The two sides came to an agreement and Goldman invested about $300m in a $2.5bn fund raised by Mr Fang’s Hopu Investment Management, one of the largest first-time private equity fundraisings seen in Asia. 最后双方达成协议，高盛在方风雷的厚朴投资管理公司(Hopu Investment Management)募集的一只25亿美元基金（亚洲史上最大规模的私募股权首轮募资之一）投资大约3亿美元。

The fund, which was jointly managed by former Goldman banker Richard Ong and former KPMG partner Dominic Ho, made headlines by snapping up large stakes in Chinese banks from US and European institutions after the global financial crisis. 由高盛前银行家王忠信(Richard Ong)和毕马威(KPMG)前合伙人何潮辉(Dominic Ho)联合管理的那只基金，在全球金融危机过后从美欧机构手中买下中资银行的大笔股份，成为头条新闻。

The fund was soon fully invested and was generating an internal rate of return of 40 per cent by the end of last year but Mr Ong and Mr Ho both retired from Hopu in late 2010 and Mr Fang decided not to raise another fund at that time. 该基金很快就全部投资到位，并在去年底产生40%的内部回报率，但王忠信和何潮辉均已在2010年末离开厚朴，而当时方风雷决定不募资建立另一只基金。

As part of the complicated structure used by Goldman to enter China, the majority shareholdings in the bank’s China subsidiaries – Beijing Gaohua Securities and Goldman Sachs Gaohua – remain in Mr Fang’s name although those shareholdings were bought with a loan of about $200m from Goldman that gives the bank effective control. 作为高盛进入中国所采用的复杂结构的一部分，该行中国子公司——北京高华证券(Beijing Gaohua Securities)和高盛高华(Goldman Sachs Gaohua)——的多数股份仍在方风雷名下，尽管这些股份是借助高盛发放的一笔大约2亿美元的贷款买下的，这笔贷款使高盛得到有效控制权。

This arrangement, originally proposed by Mr Fang and backed by special approval from China’s State Council, allowed Goldman to gain majority control over a China subsidiary before global competitors. 这种安排最初是由方风雷提议的，并得到中国国务院的特别批准，使高盛抢在全球竞争对手之前获得一家在华子公司的多数股份控制权。

One person familiar with the current arrangement, said: “He’s like the wise old man on the hill, Goldman goes up to see him now and then to ask for advice and his view on things but he has no involvement in the daily running of things.” 熟悉当前安排的一名人士表示：“他就像是一名站在山头的睿智老人，高盛不时上山去见他，向他请教，征求他对事情的看法，但他不介入日常运营。”

Goldman and Hopu declined to comment. 高盛和厚朴拒绝置评。