CITIC Capital
CITIC Capital is a Hong Kong alternative-investment firm, founded in 2002, that manages about $14 billion across private equity, real estate and special situations. It is not a water fund: its tracked water exposure is two bets, wastewater company Organica Water and its design-software spinout Transcend. As of 2026, (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
CITIC Capital was built in 2002 by Zhang Yichen, an MIT-trained former Merrill Lynch banker, as the alternative-investment arm orbiting CITIC, China's sprawling state-backed conglomerate. Today CITIC Capital manages around $14 billion across private equity, real estate, structured finance and special situations, and its buyout business now trades under its own name, Trustar Capital, after a 2021 rebrand. Water is a footnote in that empire, not a strategy.
CITIC Capital's entire water story traces to a single 2018 bet. Through its Silk Road Fund, the firm's vehicle for China's Belt-and-Road geographies, CITIC Capital backed Organica Water, a company that treats sewage inside enclosed, greenhouse-like facilities using bacteria grown on plant roots rather than open tanks. The second water name in the portfolio is really the same bet wearing a different hat: Transcend, a design-software business, spun out of Organica, and CITIC Capital carried its shares into the new company.
CITIC Capital is not hunting water deals. The pattern worth seeing is that water arrived as one growth investment that quietly split into two. (don't) Waste Water rates the firm's water commitment Occasional, and the label fits: two tracked companies, one underlying thesis, and a last water cheque dated to 2019.
Where CITIC Capital matters for water is less its venture record than its reach. A firm that has owned McDonald's China and moved billions through Chinese infrastructure has the balance sheet to scale a wastewater technology across Asia if it chose to. For now that stays potential rather than thesis, and this page tracks it as exactly that.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does CITIC Capital invest in?
- CITIC Capital is a China-focused alternative-investment manager, not a water fund. CITIC Capital invests across private equity, real estate, structured finance and special situations, managing about $14 billion. Within that, water shows up only through two tracked companies: wastewater specialist Organica Water and the infrastructure-design spinout Transcend.
- What water companies has CITIC Capital backed?
- CITIC Capital has backed two water companies tracked by (don't) Waste Water. Organica Water treats wastewater inside enclosed greenhouse facilities using root-grown bacteria, backed through CITIC Capital's Silk Road Fund. Transcend, a design-software business that spun out of Organica, makes tools that auto-generate engineering plans for water and wastewater plants.
- Who runs CITIC Capital?
- CITIC Capital is led by Zhang Yichen, who founded the firm in 2002 and serves as chairman and chief executive. An MIT graduate and former Merrill Lynch banker, Zhang Yichen also established the firm's private-equity arm, now called Trustar Capital. Eric Xin and Stanley Ching run its buyout and real-estate businesses.
- Where is CITIC Capital based?
- CITIC Capital is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong, with offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Tokyo and New York. Founded in 2002, CITIC Capital employs around 280 people and manages roughly $14 billion in assets, investing with a strong focus on China and Chinese cross-border opportunities.
- Is CITIC Capital the same as CITIC Envirotech or CITIC Group?
- CITIC Capital is the alternative-investment firm founded in 2002, distinct from CITIC Envirotech, a separate listed wastewater-treatment operator, and from CITIC Group, the large Chinese state conglomerate it grew out of. (don't) Waste Water rates CITIC Capital's own water commitment Occasional, based on two tracked investments.