In 1979, China's paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, sat down with some old industrialists who'd survived the revolution for a lamb hot pot. The conversation, in a room shrouded in cigarette smoke, was about invigorating the economy, and the brainstorming gave rise to Citic Group, the state-owned investment company at the forefront of China's experiments with economic and financial liberalization. The government is turning to Citic again to shake up the economy. In a plan announced in March and to be completed by August, $36 billion of Citic's assets from at least 29 subsidiaries will be transferred to its Hong Kong unit, Citic Pacific, to create a new company, Citic Ltd. Being located at some distance from Beijing may mean Citic Ltd. looks less like a state-owned enterprise, which could make it easier for the company to complete acquisitions abroad.