RULING FAMILY MEMBER Sheikh Abdullah replaced Ahmed al-Sayed in December, taking the helm of one of the world’s largest investors, Qatar Investment Authority. This comes on top of his responsibilities as chairman of Qatari telco Ooredoo, a position he has held since 2000. While not expected to alter the estimated $170 billion fund’s strategy, his appointment comes at a particularly important time for Qatar-China relations, with QIA having signed an agreement with China’s state-owned conglomerate CITIC Group Corp in November to launch a $10 billion fund that will invest in Asia. QIA also spent $616 million on a 19.9 percent stake in Lifestyle International Holdings, a department operator in Hong Kong and mainland China.