CHARLESTON, W.Va. –The West Virginia Board of Treasury Investments have passed a policy Tuesday that would divest funds from China.
State Treasurer and chairman of the board Larry Pack introduced the Prohibited Investment Policy to the board at their meeting after he expressed his intent to do so earlier this month.
Pack says that short-term funds will be stopped from going to companies that are linked to China.
“They will prohibit the state from investing our short-term funds to companies owned by Chinese Communist Party or the Chinese Military,” Pack said.
Now that the policy has passed, the board, which manages more than $10.5 billion in short-term state and local operating funds, will be able to establish a plan to divest investments and complete the divestment as soon as financially prudent, if the board finds that the funds are being given to a company owned by China.
He said that this policy has been a long time coming.
“Something we needed to do for a long time,” Pack said. “There’s no reason, no prudent reason for us to invest with a country that’s working against, that’s everyday working against our interest, there very vocal about, there very clear about it.”
Later this year, Pack will become the chairman of the West Virginia Board of Investment Management where he plans on proposing a similar policy. However, this policy would prohibit the long-term funds from being invested into companies owned by the Chinese Communist Party or the Chinese military.