Carlyle’s Rubenstein: China Encourages PE More Than Any Country

David Rubenstein, head of the Caryle Group, said that China encourages private equity investments more than any country, including the U.S.

“The government of China encourages people like us to come there,” Rubenstein says. “I feel more welcome there than in the halls of Congress.

Rubenstein, who was speaking at the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst conference Wednesday, says that China, because of its booming population, will have the world’s biggest economy by 2035. India will likely have the second largest economy while the U.S. will come in third. Brazil will probably rank fourth.

“For the rest of the 21st Century, the U.S. will be the third largest economy behind China and India,” Rubenstein says. The U.S., he says, still has great advantages, including a stable government.

Rubenstein also said investors shouldn’t be afraid of a China bubble. “I don’t think you can be a global investor, involved in private equity and not invest in China…the valuations are not out of control.”