*Looking at acquisitions at Central Asia, Africa and China
*Hopes to launch manganese IPO "as soon as possible" (Adds executive quotes)
HONG KONG, Sept 7 (Reuters) - CITIC Resources Holdings <1205.HK>, China's sixth-largest oil producer by output, aims to buy oil and resource assets in Central Asia, Africa and China, its chief executive said on Monday.
Armed with HK$4.3 billion of cash on hand, CITIC Resources is eyeing "high-quality, profitable and good assets," CEO Sun Xinguo told reporters at a briefing.
CITIC Resources is the oil and metals unit of CITIC Group, China's top financial conglomerate. CITIC Resources has oil assets in Kazakhstan, Indonesia and the Hainan-Yuedong Block in China.
CITIC Resources, which said last year that it was planning to spin off its manganese division, is working to list the segment as soon as possible, Sun said, adding that the firm is closely monitoring market conditions and profitability of the business.
"We hope that when the time is right, then we can launch the IPO successfully," Sun said.
CITIC Reseources will start producing its first domestic crude in the second quarter of 2010 in the Bohai Sea off the coast of northern China.
The firm swung to a first-half net loss of HK$307.3 million ($39.65 million) from a net profit of HK$520.1 million a year earlier because of weak demand and falling prices, it said late on Sunday. ($1=HK$7.749) (Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Ken Wills)