Research

Rebounding quickly from the pandemic, China VC activity drove private capital investment to USD72b in 2020

Private capital fund managers invested a record USD72b in China in 2020, driven by venture capital (VC) activity. As the first country to experience the outbreak of COVID-19, China enacted strict lockdown measures in the first half of 2020 and launched CNY3.6t (USD500b) of fiscal stimulus, enabling the economy to regain its footing by mid-year. Nearly 70% of the annual investment total was deployed in 2H 2020, led by a resurgence in VC activity following a moderate slowdown in 2019. VC fund managers invested USD48.2b over the course of the year, including eight big-ticket rounds of USD1b or more. Amid the VC bonanza, the USD8.7b take-private buyout of 58.com by Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic, and Ocean Link marked the largest private capital deal in 2020.

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