Valin Iron and Steel Group has entered into an agreement with China Huarong Asset Management Corp to establish China's first joint steel industry investment fund. The fund will be used for steel industry investments, mergers and acquisitions. To begin with, the fund will have 1 billion yuan worth of assets under management which may be expanded to between 5 billion yuan and 10 billion yuan. In 2008, Valin Group produced 10.83 million tons of steel, had sales revenue of 70 billion yuan and a profit of 3.1 billion yuan. It remained a second-tier producer compared with Baosteel and Hebei Iron and Steel Group. Valin Group, which has automotive steel and electrical steel production joint ventures with ArcelorMittal, recently became the second largest shareholder in Australia's third largest iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.