Beijing has all moves to entice tech crowd

Businessman Huang Qinghua grabbed a flight from Shenzhen to Beijing earlier this month to tempt potential investors into funding his company's expansion plans.

Since making the trip, he has already persuaded one to come on board and is confident others will quickly follow as he looks to raise 20 million yuan ($3.13 million).

On paper, his company Shenzhen Wanwulian Ltd should appeal to venture capital firms. It has been going for two years and specializes in manufacturing high-tech surveillance equipment for commercial and residential properties.

"Beijing is the best place to get funding in China," Huang, whose office and factory are in Shenzhen, said. "Investors are open to all kinds of projects. And since we are now growing, we need extra investment for research and development for new products and other operations."

To help start up Shenzhen Wanwulian, Huang received an initial round of funding from 10 angel investors, with seven coming from Beijing. They each invested 50,000 yuan.

"We had the right product, the right staff and we launched at the right time," Huang, who has yet to disclose detailed financial figures about the privately owned company, said. "I believe we have a bright future."

Huang is one of the new breed of high-tech entrepreneur-businessmen that the government is banking on to produce high quality products in an era of sustainable growth.

Beijing has become the place to fund them. Top of the list for angel investors and venture capital companies in the Chinese capital are the big three sectors-telecommunication, media and technology, or TMT.

Last month, a report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP showed that about 52 percent of the "total deal volume", conducted by equity funds and venture capital firms, in China's TMT sector went to Beijing in the second half of 2014. Shanghai came next with 18 percent, followed by Shenzhen on 10 percent.

"Beijing has established itself as the heartland of China's TMT industry, claiming 61 percent of the national aggregate investment," PwC's report highlighted, adding that the TMT sector in China received $15.9 billion last year, which was more than double the 2013 figure.

Funding, of course, is crucial to startup companies. Building a successful business from scratch takes time, entrepreneurial flair and cash.

Since most of the key venture capital firms and hedge funds are located in the capital, Beijing already has a head start on other major cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen. But that could change in the future.

"As other entrepreneurial centers continue to emerge in China, Beijing's advantage in the high concentration of venture capital will erode," Frank Hawke, China director for the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which runs the Stanford Ignite-Beijing Program for young entrepreneurs, said.

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