Chinese investors focus on US tech startups
July 17, 2018
Chinese investment into US technology industries is growing at a record pace in 2018, according to a new report reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, despite a slowdown in overall China-US deals as a result of tighter regulation from American lawmakers.
The study, conducted by New York-based Rhodium Group, showed that Chinese foreign direct investment into the US contracted between January and May of this year. However, regulatory loopholes surrounding investments in technology startups have allowed Chinese businesses to sidestep measures designed at keeping their money out of the country.
In the first five months of the year, venture capital investment from Chinese sources totalled $2.4 billion – equal to the previous full-year record of 2015. Over 1,300 funding rounds by US startups from the year 2000 onwards named at least one Chinese-linked investor, amounting to $11 billion in investment from Chinese parties.