Temasek Buys $2.3 Billion of I.C.B.C. Shares From Goldman HONG KONG - Temasek Holdings, the sovereign wealth fund backed by the government of Singapore, said Monday it was buying $2.3 billion worth of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's Hong Kong-listed shares from Goldman Sachs, increasing its bet on China, the world's second-largest economy after that of the United States. Temasek suffered from its exposure to the financial industry in 2008, when its stakes in large European and U.S. banks were hurt in the global crisis. It has nevertheless maintained almost 40 percent of its investment portfolio in banks, shifting toward lenders that it sees as capturing growth in emerging markets. The investment in I.C.B.C. announced Monday takes Temasek deeper into the Chinese banking industry, which was largely insolvent six years ago but now includes four of the world's top 10 banks by market value. Ding Wei, the head of Temasek operations in China, said the company was investing in I.C.B.C. because the price was "reasonable" and because Temasek was optimistic about the Chinese bank and long-term development in the country. Temasek already owns stakes in China Construction Bank and in Bank of China. China assets accounted for 20 percent of its portfolio as of March 2011. "Temasek has laid out its strategy before, on where it thinks growth is," said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB in Singapore. Within Asia, China anchors the growth, so Temasek is putting money where its mouth is. The latest purchase was of 3.55 billion Hong Kong shares, or about 1 percent of I.C.B.C., the world's largest bank by market value. Temasek now has a 1.3 percent stake in the bank, a spokesman for the Singaporean company said. That includes I.C.B.C. shares that the state investor owns directly, as well as various stakes held by Temasek subsidiaries. The Chinese banking industry has come under fire lately, with customers and politicians complaining that huge profits in the sector come at the expense of ordinary citizens. The trade by Goldman Sachs is in keeping with its plan to reduce its stake in I.C.B.C., which it bought before the Chinese bank's initial public offering in 2006. After the sale to Temasek, Goldman will have about $3 billion in I.C.B.C. shares. Goldman sold the Hong Kong-traded shares of I.C.B.C. at 5.05 Hong Kong dollars apiece, or about 65 U.S. cents, a 3.1 percent discount to the closing price Friday. Other institutional investors bought about $200 million worth of the shares. "The sale does not affect I.C.B.C. at all, and the overhang will be removed when Goldman disposes of the remaining, hopefully in one go," said Sanjay Jain, head of Asian financials research at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong. Temasek's financial services portfolio includes stakes in DBS Group of Singapore, the Indian lender ICICI Bank and Standard Chartered. Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS are among the global lenders that have sold large stakes in Chinese banks over the past few years. Goldman Sachs first bought 4.9 percent of I.C.B.C. before the lender's public offering, which at the time was the largest in the world. It paid about $2.6 billion for that stake. Temasek, which manages about $150 billion in assets, has raised $800 million since the beginning of this year in three significant portfolio sales, including a 1.4 percent stake sale in ICICI Bank. Temasek has also announced plans to sell its 67.4 percent stake in the Indonesian lender Bank Danamon to DBS, in exchange for DBS shares, in a deal awaiting regulatory approval.