China Esquire

I’ve heard people say that this will be the year that the Chinese economy will slow down a little, but more importantly, that the Chinese stock market bubble will burst. (or at least enter a bear year) I’ve had my money on 2009 or 2010 before anything like that happens in the Chinese stock market. Why? Because the market already had a minor “correction” last year. (more like a hiccup than anything else) And frankly, I don’t see any evidence that makes me think this will be the year.

From China Venture News:

Xorte is reporting that venture capital deals in the fourth quarter of 2007 were up 6% over that same period of 2006. The fourth quarter saw 60 deals, with $660 million being invested in China compared to 63 deals for a value of $622 million in the fourth quarter of 2006.

For the year as a whole, the big winner in 2007 on China’s venture capital scene was the consumer and retail sector. It saw a record $1.25 billion invested in 94 deals last year. That’s a growth rate of 83% over 2006.

Venture funding for healthcare more than doubled in 2007. Twenty-one deals in the healthcare industry took in $175 million in VC funding in China last year. In 2006, only $86 million went into the healthcare industry from VC coffers.

The majority of VC deals were first round seed money. About half of all VC funding went into second round funding agreements. That was up 15% from 2006.

Anyone care to point me to some evidence to the contrary now? I would love to hear back on this topic.

UPDATE: Will Lewis at Experience Not Logic posted excerpts of a good Forbes article about VC in China. The interviews from the Forbes article lead me to believe that VC is quite alive and well in China, and it is worth a read.

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