VC sector in China continues rapid growth

China's venture capital sector has been developing rapidly, with a total of 7,055 registered funds valued at 1.01 trillion yuan ($146.8 billion) by the end of May, according to an industrial white paper released on Thursday.

Total VC value in China accounted for nearly a quarter of the world's total over the past three years, and the dominant position of the United States has been challenged as more and more VC funds flow to European and other Asian-Pacific areas, according to the 2019 Annual Global Venture Capital White Paper.

The white paper, guided by the Asset Management Association of China, was unveiled in Qingdao, Shandong province.

Wu Chao, one of the paper's editors, said the document provides a deep analysis of the status quo, as well as trends in VC sectors around the world.

"VC funds and fundraising favored high-tech sectors in 2018 such as artificial intelligence, medical care, autonomous driving, smart transportation and biotechnology," Wu said.

There were some 17,000 investment cases in the world's VC market in 2018, with total funds of $296.6 billion — an increase of 34 percent from the previous year.

The paper said the number of unicorn enterprises, or firms with an estimated value of over $1 billion, reached 429 worldwide. Of these, 205 were from China and 149 were from the United States. This marks the first time China has surpassed the United States in this metric.

"The hub of VC sectors in the world has begun shifting from the United States to emerging economies like China," Wu said.

Developed areas including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang account for about three quarters of VC resources across China .

Wu said China's rapid growth of VC sectors plays a major role in high-tech industry development, industrial reconstruction and capital allocation.

"However, there is still a long way to go, as the VC sector started late in China compared to developed countries with mature markets," he added.