Absolutely, said Cannane, noting sovereign investment from Malaysia and South Korea in other sectors.

The country is widely regarded as on track to achieve sovereign investment grade status.

Mr Little said the government was also considering establishing a new Ngāpuhi sovereign investment fund.

But the pace of sovereign investment in tech ventures is picking up with more than two dozen in the past year.

The banks turned to foreign governments, through sovereign investment funds, to sell new shares and raise fresh capital, and to the Fed to boost liquidity.

The sovereign investment vehicle has escaped a $3 billion deal to increase its stake in rig-builder-to-property conglomerate Keppel, citing a "material adverse change" clause.

The sovereign investment arms of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait have an estimated $1.5 trillion at their disposal.

Yanzhou's proposed takeover of Felix is subject to regulatory approvals in Australia, including from the Foreign Investment Review Board which vets all foreign sovereign investments.

The lack of clarity around the SAFE Investment Co investments in Australia raised questions about the transparency of Chinese sovereign investments overseas, the FT said.