The China Venture Capital and Private Equity Semi-annual Forum 2008, hosted by Zero2IPO Group, the most influential value-added service provider in the Chinese venture capital industry, was held from 9th-10th July, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Hangzhou Hotel beside the West Lake. This forum saw the participation of over 70 top investors and corporate guests in China and attracted around 900 venture capital investors, entrepreneurs and professionals at home and abroad.
Hangzhou Mayor Mr. Qi Cai and Mr. John Dean, Chairman of the Board of Zero2IPO Group, addressed the opening ceremony. Mr. Shangzhi Wu, who is Chairman of the Board of CDH Investments and has a particularly high reputation in the investment industry, delivered the keynote speech entitled "Opportunities and Challenges in a more Uncertain Investment Environment", winning a loud round of applause from the audience. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Gavin Ni, Founder, President and CEO of Zero2IPO Group, gave a speech entitled “Release of 2008 Quarter 2 Statistics - VC/PE in China: Progressing in Unstable Economic Conditions”, in which he shared with the audience exclusive statistics regarding venture capital and private equity in the second quarter of 2008. According to the statistics, the Chinese venture capital market in Quarter 2 remained vigorous. This can be demonstrated by the 3 billion US dollar fund raised by Chinese VC investors and a 70% increase in investment. During the period, the number of enterprises which received financial support from VC investors and the total amount of financial support reached 159 and 1,204 million US dollars, up 31.4% and 73.5% respectively over the same period last year. In additon, the total value of 10 private equity funds raised in Quarter 2 amounted to 12,022 million dollars, though slightly lower than in Quarter 1, remained high and was significantly higher than the second quarter of last year. Meanwhile Middle and Western China, where the PE investment in the energy sector soared, also performed well in financing. In Mainland China, a total of 37 enterprises had received 2,559-million- dollar PE investments from over 30 PE organizations by the end of Quarter 2. Mr. Ni shared his original viewpoints with the audience: the global economic recession has affected the Chinese economy and the investment industry, leading to the risk of decline in investment returns and share prices on the stock market; therefore prices in the PE market shall be brought down and entrepreneurs’ minds shall be adjusted. Although US dollar funds will continue to dominate the VC market over the coming three years, their proportion will keep on falling. So the Chinese VC market is heading towards a new era featuring the dominance by both foreign and Chinese funds.
The prestigious VC/PE investors who delivered speeches and shared their experience and opinions at the forum include Mr. Andrew Yan, Managing Partner of SAIF Partners; Mr. Hugo Shong, Partner of IDGVC Partners; Ms. Cathy Xu, Managing Partner of Capital Today; Mr. Sonny Wu, Founder and Managing Director of GSR Ventures; Mr. Ye Dong, President and CEO of Tsing Capital; Mr. Fang Fang, CEO and Managing Director of JP Morgan Chase & Co (China); Mr. Haitao Jin, Chairman of the Board of Shenzhen Capital Group Co., Ltd.; Mr. Daniel Quon, Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank (Asia); Mr. Yizhong Lin, Managing Partner of Price Waterhouse Coopers (China); Mr. Nengguang Wang, Managing Director and CFO of Legend Capital Ltd.; Ms. Xi Zhang, Managing Partner of DFJ Dragon Fund, and so on.
Moreover, the forum officially released the “2008 Zero2IPO-Venture 50” list on the afternoon of July 10. Changzhou Kanghui Medical Equipment Ltd., Beijing Origin Water Technology Ltd., and the 3G Portal (a Guangzhou based mobile network provider) were ranked top three. The “Venture 50” list directly reflects this year’s trend of VC investments in China.
The forum received enthusiastic supports from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Price Waterhouse Coopers, Chang’an Capital, GSR Ventures, Sequoia Capital, IDGVC Partners, Northern Light Venture Capital, KTB Investments, NEA, JAFCO Asia, Tsing Capital, DT Capital Partners, Capital Today, Walden International, Legend Capital, Intohotel.com, Intel Capital, DCM, CID Group, Asset Managers, and some other VC/PE firms. Furthermore, the success of this forum also can be attributed to the generous assistances from Hangzhou Investment Holdings Ltd, Cyzone, China Venture Capital Association, AAMA（Asia America Multi-technology Association）, Guangdong Venture Capital Association, Shenzhen Venture Capital Association, Shanghai Venture Capital Association, Shaanxi Venture Capital Association, Tianjin Venture Capital Association, Harbin Venture Capital Association, Tsinghua Entrepreneur and Executive Club, Singapore Venture Capital Association, Corporate Reform and Financing Service Center of Zhongguancun Science Park, Venture Center of Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, Venture Capital Park in Shanghai Yangpu Innovation Zone, Development Center of Xi’an High-technology R&D Park, Technology Innovation Center of Nanshan District (Shenzhen), government of Xiacheng District (Hangzhou), Hangzhou Young Entrepreneurs Association, and Hangzhou Overseas Chinese Commerce, etc.
Zero2IPO Group is now busy preparing for two China VC/PE forums abroad, i.e. the China VC/PE Forum in Tokyo on September 10, 2008, and the China VC/PE Forum in London on October 7. The forums will once again gather top investors, entrepreneurs and other professionals from Asia, America and Europe to discuss the development of China’s VC/PE market and find investment opportunities.
